


Hybrid

by AngelaEvil



Series: Realm Reminded [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: "named" protagonist, 'casue that's way easier to write, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, All Undertale Monsters more or less, Canon-Typical Violence, Chara can bite me, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Smut?, F/F, F/M, Female Reader, Frisk is a flirt, Hurt/Comfort, I mean someone does die, I put that in the archive warnings for a reason, Implied substance abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Lots of drama, M/M, Mages, Monsters, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Politics, Reader-Insert, Temporal Paradox, Violence, and Magical shenanigans, booze, college age, might trigger the sencitive, mostly sfw, oh my!, screw Chara, sorry that's how I write, time space shinanigans, timetravel bs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-07-25 12:13:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 42,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7532293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelaEvil/pseuds/AngelaEvil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You are a student. You are a mage. You are a Bard. Life is a stage. When all that you know, and all that you trust, are thrust upside down in the rush. Who will you turn to for safety and rest? Mages or monsters? That is the test.</p><p>(This story takes place in the Undertale universe but it’s action begins before the pacifist ending. Not just a skim over main protagonist’s life but a solid chapter or two to establish characters and underlying events in the reader’s life. Consequently there will be human characters that are named and important to the plot because the main protagonist is human, on the surface, surrounded by other humans first. Also, I have seen many fics that skip over the transitional time when monsters first emerge. I'll not be doing that. You are going to get the full drama of \Monsters\ emerging from under the mountain and the impact that has on the human communities "as it is happening". Fun right?)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. White Castle College

**Author's Note:**

> Terms to know for Exam next Friday:
> 
> Hybridine: A being with latent magical potential that manifests in a change of form. Believed to be children of The Ember, a fallen goddess. They are neither human nor monster but something in between.
> 
> Magdi: Human mages who have mastered their magical potential. Ruled by the Council of Seven and trained at White Castle College they spread throughout the world unnoticed by their ignorant kin.
> 
> Black Hearts: Mages who have mastered dark arts, twisting and corrupting their souls with hatred. The embodiment of their soul will turn black, hence the name.
> 
> Mundie: An individual with no magical potential and the vast majority of the population. Most are entirely ignorant of magic though some that learn of it are draw to Black Hearts as the magics they practice are corrupt and stolen

 Ebott, home to the famous Mt. Ebott after which the surrounding land is named, and also the oldest mage institute in the world. Most people don’t know that; they can’t see past the brick and mortar buildings. White Castle College has been training mages since before the Great War, and no not World War One, though that’s what offcial human history regards as the Great War. Any mage worth his salt could recite for you the events of the Monster-Human War and how they were sealed beneath the mountain. It’s how the school came to be founded. The Council of Seven gave up their souls to put up the barrier, a traditional role that has been upheld since the times of kings and castles. Once a year the mages hold a massive vigil in honor of the dead and for remembrance of the monsters who died as well.

The school does have a full staff of contemporary professors and regular human students attend; these non magical individuals are called mundies in most circles. It’s just easier to say than ‘humans who lack magical talent or the ability to manifest their soul at will’. So really White Castle is a college like any other, only certain students like yourself have a few extra curriculars not offered to others. To anyone not in the loop it would seem like you were in a high honors society, but to any mage they would know you as one of their own.

Your parents, like so many others, are alumni of White Castle and you were destined to attend from a young age. Ever since you were ten you could harness your magic in creative ways. This drew the attention of the school obviously. When they contacted you freshman year of highschool, offering a scholarship and attendance to the Bard’s School your parents couldn’t be more proud. That’s when you learned your magic had a name, that you could discover more about it, about your people, about your history. Needless to say you were thrilled.

Now here you are, halfway through your junior year sitting a lecture hall. It’s a required course on magical projection. Something bards are supposed to be good at. “In summary,” your smiley professor boomed, “projection is the utilization of a physical object, or attribute to cast magic in a high concentration. All mage types can use projection in some form.”

You spun your pencil over your thumb, the graphite point darting over the page. Your magic warped the lines, forming them into a word for word transcript of what Professor Waltner was saying. He was a rotund little man, with a deep voice and calm demeanor, not to mention the best band director you’d ever met. Though, what would one expect from a master bard? His magic demands greatness.

You strike another line over the page as he continues speaking. A soul melody from one of the nearby students interrupts your train of thought momentarily, casing a doodle of music notes skittering down the side of your paper. You sigh, only mildly irritated. That’s going to bother you all day, isn’t it. Peachy.

Professor Waltner keeps rambling on about the differences that emotion can play in projection and how soul manifestation could increase the projection’s strength but left the mage wide open for attack. That’s why it’s prudent for mages to work in teams of three, a Bard, a Warrior, and a Priest soul, or maybe a ‘Jack-of-all-Souls’ filling in one of those positions. Your mind ran down through the basics and you watched your pencil lines ripple feverishly into text. Warriors were naturals at combat magic with boosts to their ATK and HP, they couldn’t heal to save their lives though. Priest mages were pros at barriers and healing but they had low HP and high DEF. As the converse of warrior, Priest mages would have to learn some form of martial art if they wanted to fight. Bards are more adept at communication and illusion magic, they can fight or heal decently well if they really work at it but their skills lie in avoiding harm or combat altogether. Jacks are the balance of everything, neither deficient nor excelling in any one area.They have to work especially hard for mastery but once they have it, they’d be a force to recon with.

The sharp cry of the bell caused you to look up. Your magic had done a faithful job of recording the lecture even if you’d stopped paying attention at the end there. Thank you years of boring high school classes. The music scrawled down the side of your notes stood out in a nearly blue color that sent your left eye twitching slightly. That was the fifth time this week your magic picked up on someone else rhythm. You’d need to pour your soul into another music piece soon because this was getting out of hand.

You folded up your textbooks in a cloth handkerchief, yanking the cloth up over the bindings and shaking it flat again. Nice and simple. Reminiscent of the sleight of hand often employed by stage magicians. No one was going to accuse you of not trying when you had the best hiding methods for your school supplies. Many off your classmates had already approached you about the technique. You taught them with a smile and the clause they bought you lunch. The cafe burritos are your weakness. Oh and don’t forget the chipotle sauce. Your roomie, a mundie, had teased you mercilessly about it. It was all in good fun though.

Students filled out into the courtyards, the large campus sprawling across the mountainside. The clock tower chimed five and your gaze flicked to the rapidly darkening sky. This far from the city you could make out the shimmer of stars appearing. Today would be a long haul in The Library if you didn’t get a move on. You sigh lightly, another melody clawing at the back of your mind. You kept your mouth shut, though. It’s in poor taste to sing someone else’s soul-song without asking. Especially poor as you were now surrounded by a mix of mage and mundie students. You walked briskly through the central garden to your dorm, The Lion House. There were a few other student houses that weren’t exclusive to mages, in fact the vast majority of them were populated solely by mundies. The honors houses were more like larger sorority and fraternity homes, Capricorn for the men and Aquarius for the women. You weren’t the only mage who’d rather be living with mundies though. It’s good practice for handling your magic around other people later in life.

All dorms had an entry hall for security, guests would have to be signed in by the person they were visiting and must leave at sundown. Students had to turn over their I.D.s to be let in otherwise their roomie had to sign them in as a guest. It made finding the card difficult if you lost it in your room. Entryways are always painted off white. Frankly it looks more like a prison or mental asylum when you first walk in, what with the fluorescent lighting and metal security doors. Not to mention the steel shutter over the security check-in window and wall of mailboxes that require two keys.

The dorm monitor looked up from her magazine when you walked in. You gave the stern looking woman a wave. She’s a mundie too, most of the school’s population are mundies actually. There are maybe a thousand mages on campus excluding the teachers. More if you count the graduates that moved on to open White Castle branches in other nations. You passed over your student card and she punched you in, unlocking the door to the lobby for you.

Gold assaulted your vision as it frequently did. Every dorm hall was painted in a bold color with the rooms being muted shades of the same hue. That meant earthtones, not that you minded much. It gave students the chance to choose what colors would pop in their own rooms. You hustled up the steps, your school messenger bag swung over your left shoulder. You’d tucked the handkerchief in your jacket pocket, rusting around your bag as you floundered for your room key.

“Care, I’m home.” You called out into the dark hall once you finally got the door open. Stupid thing always sticks. There is a suspicious lack of noise in the room. Caroline’s boyfriend was here before you left. Yep, those are his short on the floor. Okay. You slide into your bedroom intent on not repeating the Incident from the previous month. You never wanted to drink again after that.

Your room was a warm shade of light citrine with cool accent colors of blues and greens. Forest scenes hung on the wall in one of those segmented paintings your mother adores. There are a couple of trophies from piano and violin competitions from when you were younger bookend-ing your collection of fantasy novels. You loved pretty much anything that had to do with magic and monsters even if it was horribly inaccurate. Your favorites being the Tolkien Classics. You did enjoy some of Lewis’s works though it was mostly isolated to the Chronicles. And who doesn’t enjoy a Lovecraftian horror every once in a blue moon?

The shelf was topped with a storm of plushies that you accumulated from the age of five, adding one each year. The first was by far your favorite. You’d got it on All Hallows Eve, an important holiday for mages, when your grandmother came to visit. She knitted it for you by hand with just a little hint of magic. It was a skeleton holding a pumpkin, dressed and adorned with Day of the Dead flare. The craft worked so that if you squeeze him, you smell pumpkin spice and fall leaves.

The room layout was simple and fairly standard, though you did pull the bed away from the far wall to make room for a small server rack. You didn’t run it that often but with the separate thermostat system, you could keep your room in the mid sixties where you like it. You mage friend, Colin, teased you about it. “You’re cold blooded like those dragons you're always reading about!” You wanted to remind him what a WoW nerd he was half the time. Besides your tech, there’s an electric keyboard plugged into your laptop resting at the foot of your bed. A closet on the right wall and a large window with your desk on the left. The room was sized in such a way that no corner was more than five strides away from the next. It felt cramped, sure, but it was your space, your sanctuary away from home. Besides you didn’t feel like you needed that much space and Care had asked for the larger room nicely.

Shaking your head to get your mind back on track, you deposited your bag on the soft blue sheets and plucked your handkerchief from your pocket before hanging up the jacket. Now it was a matter of doing calculus and reviewing the history of the barrier for an oral report in your Magics and Archives class. While you could probably get away with calling the history textbook a fantasy novel, you’d rather wait for Caroline to be asleep or out. You slammed your head onto the desk with a groan. That left Calc. “Math, why? Why do you hate me?”

Well, moping will get you nowhere and you have a lot of other projects to work on. You propped your head up on an upturned palm, leaning your elbow onto to the desk. The worksheets spread out over the cool wood contained a large variety of mental torture. You pencil touched down on the first of many strokes.

About three fourths of the way through your work you heard hushed voices coming from the main living room. Care was shooing her boy out of your dorm. Playful arguing. Gods they harmonized so well together, why couldn’t you find that? ‘True love’ and all that. You dated in highschool, there was one you were really serious about but your songs just couldn’t match up. Whether that’s because the both of you were still growing, not yet set in your ways as much, or if the underlying dissonance really meant you wouldn’t work out. In the end you may never know. You agreed to stop seeing each other and just drifted apart from there.

There was a knock that interrupted your wandering thoughts. Caroline leaned her head in, a goofy grin on her face. Her bright shock of auburn wavy hair thrown all askew and her ice blue eyes shining with her inner light. Definitely the afterglow. “Girl, have I ever thanked you for the assist way back when?”

“You mean two months ago at Candy’s? Telling you ‘Look at him! He’s the one!”’ You lean back in your swivel chair and lift your pencil triumphantly.

She giggled and came fully into the room. “Yeah, yeah. You were right. I get it.” Care flopped down on your bed with a happy sigh. The navy tank top she wore bunched up on her sides, the drawstring of her college sweats were sticking out. She’d gotten dressed in a rush. “But really, thanks for helping me get over my nerves.”

“Hey, we’re besties. ‘t’s what I do.” You spin your pencil one more time before laying it down. Eh, you can do the rest tomorrow. Caroline sat up and started tapping at the electronic keyboard, sitting with her legs crossed and a quiet, thoughtful look on her face. It was still hooked up to the audio editing software you used; the recording mic had been unplugged. Though she wore a smile, there was something off with her rhythm. She felt sad. “Is something wrong?”

“No, no. It’s... “ Her fingers stilled and she quickly flashed a hand up to smear tears away from her eyes. You could tell she’d been holding this in for a while, hiding it well, but not well enough. You might not have noticed if your magic wasn’t so sensitive recently. “Well, yes. My parents are splitting up and I might not be able to come back next semester. It’s nothing certain but I just... You’re a good friend. Jack is amazing. Colin is hilarious -seriously he’s a catch go get ‘em- and.... I’m going to miss all of you.”

The two of you stared at each other while your internal debate raged. She is worth it, Caroline is your friend you can bend your rule one time for her. Just... play a song. “Care, scooch.” Your roommate shifted over as you went and sat before the instrument. You just took a moment to breath, to feel her soul humming in the space next to yours. The complementary tones you two had. Your magic tickled in your fingers and throat as you began to play. “See you Again” by Carrie Underwood started with the flow of her soul and had a upward pull. As the notes danced from your fingers and words slipped off your tongue you threw everything you felt for Caroline into the air. The world became the two of you, just existing together. “Say goodbye turned around and you were gone...”

As the ivory stilled against your fingers and the pulsing glow faded from behind your eyes, you heard Care suck in a breath. She flung her arms around you with a tearful laugh. “That! That right there, you beautiful jerk, is something I’m going to miss so much!”

“I-I’m not that great, really.”

She pulled back to glare at you in that playful way. “Not that great? Not that great! You made me feel feelings and you’re saying you’re not that great!” Your roommate shook your shoulders slightly. Her soul sparkled in shades of blue behind her eyes and it put a smile on your face. This is how she should be, energetic and grinning like mad. “For that awesome song, you are going to let me cook dinner tonight!”

Oh no. You love your roomie, you really do. Her cooking? Not so much. “Wait, Care, you don’t ha-” but she was already rushing out of the room into the tiny kitchenette. You slowly followed after her, she was probably dead set on this and nothing was going to change her mind. Resigned to your fate, you flop down on the couch, an old, somewhat beat up, red spring set. Your feet propped up on the chocolate brown beanbag chair and head hanging back. Ah, waiting for the death of your taste buds, goodie.

No, no you shouldn’t be thinking that. She’s having a hard time, you just cheered her up, with your magic. She’ll be hypersensitive to the shifts in your mood you need to stay positive. Your eyes flick around the familiar room, everything here is warm colors. Reds, oranges, even some darker browns. You close your eyes and hum your song, the song of your own soul. It doesn’t sound like anything to you, though you know it’s there. Sometime you can hear it faintly when you make your soul manifest but you can’t ever remember a specific tune, you just hum some notes until it sounds right. Your fingers itch and tap out an underlying rhythm, the higher notes are taken by tapping the flat of your other hand to your thigh. You wouldn’t call this song upbeat but it’s not slow or sad either. That’s part of what fascinated you about souls; they each have a unique sound with a very flexible register that shifts with a person’s mood.

You couldn’t help but wonder what monster souls were like. All the books say they had them too, there are a lot of complex instructions for bards about the proper way to communicate with monster soul. Reminders of how fragile they are by comparison to human souls. There was also notes on how a bard could easily identify a monster’s soul because of some intrinsic quality to the sound, but that portion of the scroll had been too damaged for the translator to decipher. It’s too bad really.

The smell of Caroline’s cooking prompted your stomach to growl and your humming faltered in embarrassment. You forgotten that you hadn’t eaten since breakfast. She laughed good naturedly. “Almost done, promise.”

Welp, you’re done with singing for a while.

Care slides a plate in front of you and you glance at the microwave clock. 6:23, wow how long had you been thinking? It didn’t feel that long! Oh well, you were hungry and this baked chicken actually looked really good. You could cry salty tears of joy when you took you first bite. How was this something Caroline had made? It’s so good.

That’s when your roomie flips on the TV to her DVR recordings and it’s almost all the cooking channel’s programs. Oh, that explains a lot. You gave her a sideways glance and arched an eyebrow. She just chuckled nervously and shrugged. “I, um... wanted to cook a romantic dinner for Jack and I at some point.”

“Girl, you got it bad.”

“Nah uh.”

“Yeah hu, since when were you into the stereotypical romantic gestures instead of fart jokes and anime night?”

Her face flushed slightly as she spiraled into a flustered tyriad of how “Mew Mew Kissy Cutie is a classic magical girl anime with plenty of romantic stuff!” You couldn’t really hear her over how hard you were laugh. Ah, you loved this girl.

“Okay, okay, okay. MMKC is a classic, but I still like the manga better.” You gave her shoulder a playful poke. “Besides, we both know the obscure animes tend to be hidden treasures.”

“Diamonds in the ruff?”

You were grinning at each other and broke out into a hasty and off key rendition of “Never Has A Friend Like Me”.

“Oh, we should totally marathon Disney movies tonight. Neither of us have classes until late tomorrow anyway.”

You smile faltered a little bit when you remembered your work. “Ah, sorry Care. I promised to help Colin study tonight.”

The smile on her face widens slightly and she wiggles her brows suggestively. “Oh? It wouldn’t happen to be anatomy would it.”

Without even stopping to consider if it’s a good idea, you grab the pillow beside you and throw it at her head. “Care, no!”

She ducks you assult and laughs harder. “Care, yes~”

With an playfully angry huff you eat the rest of your food and she flipped through the channels, stopping on a movie about umbrellas and zombies or something. Honestly your mind is elsewhere already. You drop your dishes in the sink with a “I’ll wash these when I get back” and duck back into your room. Deciding you want something a little warmer at night you slide on a bright green undershirt with a more neutral blue plaid button up on top. Your jeans are fine and you swap out your sandals for a pair of black toms. Just as an extra precaution against the cold, you slide on a black fauxfur, hooded vest.

You tie your handkerchief around your neck loosely and swipe up your messenger bag. Double checking that you have your student card and room key, you wave to Care and head out the door. The hallway is silent aside from the muted voices drifting from the other rooms around you. You’re alone and it’s a breath of fresh air. No more hiding and suppressing your soul to blend in, even if it’s just for a second or two. You let out a slow breath, feel the glow swelling in your chest, the buzz of magic down your back, arms, legs, up your neck. The snap of focus and awareness in your mind. You can feel the world turning, the breath of life all around you. But your mind brushes against the barrier, the constant presence beneath your feet. Humans milling about in the campus blithely unawares of history, doomed to repeat it should the barrier finally fall. That is why White Castle exists, to redeem mages, and all of humanity, to monster kind. The ones that remember, the ones that know, the ones that learn from history.

You pull yourself in as you turn the corner to the lobby, no need to freak anyone out with the lightshow your soul was putting on. Colin is waiting just inside the door for you. His slim figure draped in a baggy sweater and skinny jeans. He had the scruffy facial hair one expected from a teen trying to grow a beard but not quite committed to the idea. His hair was cut short at the sides with a crop of black hair-dyed orange curling over his brow. His dark thin eyebrows were pulled taunt as he scrolled through his phone. His hazel tinted eyes flicking over the screen. He must have been calling you because your cell went off in your pocket and his eyes snapped up to meet yours.

“You seem impatient today, Cols. What’s up?” You pulled your phone out to wave at him. He grinned somewhat sheepishly, the backpack the barely hung on his shoulders shifting when he shrugged.

“Prof wants to see us in The Library sooner than later, she said it was important.” His tenor was pinched in a slightly muffled pitch that set you ill at ease. For a guy as laid back as Colin, he sure seemed agitated. His fingers twitched slightly and his eyes kept darting to the door.

“Professor Stillwater? Does that mean...” You don’t think you can finish that sentence. Stillwater is in charge of student discipline and guarding the barrier. If she’s involved then.

Colin only nods, and all airs are off. The two of you speed through the campus to the school library, not stopping until you get to the very back shelf of the archives. There’s a door here, old and worn and made of oak. Anyone who was a mundie would be unable to open it. It was cast so that only mages or those with the potential to be mages could pass through. Behind it was The Library.

Stepping through one might feel they’ve traveled back in time. The room on the other side was entirely masonry with wrought iron torch sconces. The air was heavy with musty smells of parchment and leather and smoke. There were some more modern spaces but their was no electricity in The Library. Didn’t need any mundies on the board asking questions on the utility bills. Consequently all the fires were magic to make them easy to tend and outlasting any normal flame.

Margery Stillwater, the oldest mage in the college and unofficial dean stood facing a large fireplace at the far end of the main chamber. Her dark violet mage robes hung straight from her lithe shoulders. Looking at her, you couldn’t tell her age, she seemed maybe in her late fifties, but you knew she’d celebrated her hundred and twelfth birthday two months ago. She took a deep breath, her regal appearance turning to face you both. A third student had been standing a short distance from the entrance, warrior if you were feeling him right. Ice trickled up your spine. A bard, a priest, and a warrior mage. Colin shifting next to you indicated his realizing this as well.

The two of you made your way into the room proper to stand beside the other student. You waited patiently while Stillwater took a deep breath. “I felt a disturbance in the barrier. Something has happened. Not to long ago another child slipped through the wards I had placed on the forest and plunged headlong into the mountain. It seems they too have met a terrible fate.”

The young men on either side of you clenched their fists. One because he felt the child’s death to be injustice, the other because he was sorry he couldn’t have stopped it. Your hand gently touches to Colin, your soul murmuring a soothing melody through the contact. “There’s nothing you could have done, Col. If not even Stillwater could stop them, they must have been very determined to get through.” You whisper up at your friend. The warrior to your right flinches at your choice of wording. For a mage to specifically name a trait from the seven dominant, and not use a synonym implies that the person whom they’re speaking of has magical talent.

“How can you be sure?” The justice minded student turned to you, his dark eyes flicking over your face. The slight roundness in his face and tone to his skin reminded you a boy you knew long ago. His question was clearly directed to the child being magically gifted.

“What else could explain them being able to break a barrier, even a small one? If I recall professor Stillwater’s last lecture, most barriers are made from sheer willpower and even the weakest could withstand a high speed bullet impact.”

The eldest magic user sighed softly. “You aren’t wrong, child, but I’m more inclined to believe that the amount of time they’ve already survived is an indication of some magical talent. Whatever meager amount they had, their will drove them onward, and falling through the barrier had increased their power a thousand times over.”

Colin suck in a sharp breath. “Would that mean that the monster who claimed all seven human souls to break the barrier would be wielding a power comparable to the First Council and then some?” Worry tinted his voice and you felt your eyes widen.

Stillwater lowered her eyes. “Let’s hope it hasn’t come to that, that the monster will let go that horrible strength was the barrier has fallen. If not, it may be war all over again. There is no guarantee we will be able to stop it either.”

Your throat felt tight as you took a deep breath of your own, willing yourself to be strong. “You’ve called us together, this is the typical field team structure. You want us to ready for a fight without mobilizing the entire College.”

She gave you a weary smile. “Yes, I want the three of you to be ready for the barrier to fall. There is no guarantee it will happen tonight, but soon. Get to know each other’s fighting and healing abilities, formulate strategies, and run a few practice matches. You can use the gymnasium downstairs. Please try to get rest. you’ll be watching the barrier until late tomorrow and reporting any changes. Do not split up under any circumstances. Understood?”

“Ma’am!” The three of you said in unison. Her time in the military had definitely given her the commander voice.

With her dismissal Colin and you moved towards the gym with your new teammate at your heels. As you walk into the vaulted gym room, two basketball hoops set opposed on either side with a row of training targets set up along the far wall, the three of you awkwardly shuffle to the center of the room. “So... introduction?” Colin mumbles while scratching at the back of head. You gave a brisk nod and your name. The warrior is Arther Ming, mostly chinese american, but there an extensive list to his ancestry. The name does sound similar to you but for the life of you, you just can’t place him. You think that you saw a spark of recognition in Arther too when you’d said your name but you couldn’t be sure.

The boys rocked on their heels slightly, looking at you. Oh right, it’s the bard’s job to keep the group cohesive. “Um...” Your mind flickered through the bard’s other roles as you thought through what should be done. The warrior attacks, the bard supports, the priest defends. In the case of either of them being taken out of commision you are the back up plan. You have to understand each other completely. Between you and Colin that wouldn’t be too hard, you’ve known each other since senior year of high school, but not Arther. “Well, it’s so short notice... Manifesting our souls would be the best, right?”

You got mumbles of “yeah, sure,” and “of course.” You plop yourself down on the floor and the other two follow suit. “I guess I’ll go first?” Colin put a hand to his sternum and pulled back, spilling warm creamy orange light into the room. You had seen the glow in his eyes many times prior, but not actually seen _him_. It’s a comforting shine and your mind detected the quiet steady beat, the rhythm that is your friend. It drew a smile onto your face. Arther gave a soft laugh, similarly entranced by the light. His tense shoulder slacking as you all basked in the feeling of magic.

“Alright, I’ll go next.” Arther leaned forward with a fire in his eyes. Instead of a hand to his chest, like most mages do, Arther shifted his posture into one of meditation, his soul burning to life in his hands. Looking at him directly was like staring at the sun. Blindingly bright to the point where it hurt slightly. He was definitely a justice soul, yellow gleaming out to mix with the orange tints already there. You noted that their songs were fairly complementary, they weren’t going to be fighting to redefine their roles. That would make this a lot easier on all of you. Also, you got the distinct impression that Arther would rather be called Ming. There was a complex emotional reason behind it but you didn’t want to pry. Something to do with his father passing away at a young age.

You shook of the wave of sadness you picked up on and straightened yourself. The melody between the two was incomplete. A base from Colin, and midrange dominant tempo from Ar-Ming. With a smile, you called out your own soul, the rush of magic through your body and there, floating before your chest was a emerald green soul. The light, your light, shifted into patient blues every once in a while, flushing the light into teal. Bard souls, while not quite as flexible as Jacks excelled at adapting to others magic. Your tempo matched up with the boy, pulling the whole symphony together with what you would faintly describe as a sighing harp.

Colin looked at you with warm friendship, an almost brotherly affection in his eyes. Eyes that glowed like amber from the color of his magic. Ming on the other hand was slack jawed, staring at your light with nothing short of awe. Your lifted your hands to block his line of sight, very embarrassed. “D-don’t stare at me like that Ming, jeeze.”

“Ah, sorry.” It took a second before he realized what name you called him by. At least he looked you in the eye this time when he floundered.

Colin laughed. “Okay, so I take it we should call you Ming, then you can call me Cols, and this one Soul.”

“Colin!” Your voice shifted up an octave, you really didn’t mind the nickname so much as how he said it.

Ming cocked an eyebrow, “Soul?”

“It’s some dumb nickname from before I really knew what to call magic.” But Colin beams at your lack of detail. You can see he’s going to keep talking so you punch him lightly on the shoulder. “No music puns mister.”

“Okay, okay.” He leans against your side with a chuckle. Deciding that your minds cannot operate with your soul this exposed and still come up with good witty retorts, you pull yourself back in, the others taking it as their cue to do the same. “So, combat practice.”

“Combat practice.” Ming repeats. The two nod at each other and you all stand up. Better get this show on the road.


	2. High Rock Cleft

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The barrier falls, monster come out, and your roomie is a fangirl.

You had told Care that you were being required to take a short camping-hiking trip with two other students from the honor society. That you’d been picked for an important project. None of it technically lies. It still wasn’t the whole truth either, but what were you supposed to say to her. “Oh this ancient order of mages that I’ve been part of since I was a teen thinks the barrier trapping a race of monsters beneath the college is going to break and I have to be there in case they want to slaughter all humanity”? That would get you locked in a loony bin, or she wouldn't believe you and it might damage your friendship, or she  _ would _ believe and you’d have broken the first rule of being a mage. ‘Keep it secret, keep it safe.’

None of these options were in anyway good.

Colin seemed pretty aware of you internal spiraling as he shouldered up next to you on the trail. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

“Remember Band Camp?” He looked at you with a serious expression. You already know where he’s going with this. You had told him this story before, about a competition you won when you were eleven that you didn’t feel you deserved because your magic gave you an unfair advantage. Your parents had to talk you out of throwing all your music stuff away. This was going to be along the same lines as their “what about the kids with natural talent that aren’t able to use magic? Is it unfair for them too?” argument only about the morality of lying for the greater good, not just a competition between eleven year olds.

“Please don’t try to cheer me up, Cols. Just... let me be mad at myself for this.”

“I’m just thinking, what if that never had to happen to anyone else again?”

You looked at him with an arched brow. He had this thoughtful, and frankly sad, look on his face. “It’s just... well if monsters do come back, and if they do want peace, and... if humans can get their collective act together, then maybe we won’t have to pretend to be something we aren’t anymore. Maybe people can accept that we exist  _ too _ and we aren’t going anywhere.”

“Cols...” there are so many question buzzing about in your head including where this line of thinking came from, though you totally understand. You settle on acknowledging the passion that hinted from behind your friends normally emotionless mask. “That’s deep.”

“I don’t think it’s going to work out that way unfortunately. At least, not while we’re still young enough to enjoy it.” Ming shrugged from a few paces ahead of you. “It’s a great ideal, don’t get me wrong. I would love to see it, but we all know how humans treat their own kind who are just a little different. The monsters might not be the imminent threat.”

You just nodded silently to yourself. Humanity's predilection to war and conflict didn’t inspire much faith. Though who’s to say monsters are any different? It was a war that separated your kind from theirs to being with, and you can only imagine how cramped it would be. Trapped under the earth for centuries with limited room and scarce supplies. The monsters could easily function on a kill or be killed attitude and that thought unsettled you.

By the time you got to the campsite it was noon. You volunteered to clean the clearing and set up a fire for cooking tonight. Mostly because the boys didn’t know how to start a fire without using a lighter or match. It was actually kind of funny how flustered Ming was about it. He insisted that he cook to make up for it, scampering off to the treeline to collect firewood. Colin tracked sightlines to the cave where the barrier was located, finding trails that would let you move quick and silent if need be. He also double checked that there wouldn’t be a way to sneak up on the camp coming from the cave side. If the barrier didn’t fall until it got dark, the firelight would give your position away.

The three of you held a discussion about the likely abilities monsters would have if they were even half as powerful as the legends. Seeing a human’s soul from a distance would be problematic and putting themselves in a position where they couldn’t see what might attack them was not a good idea. Ming rationalized the combat advantages to you and Colin. When it came to battle strategy, you had a hard time keeping up. Ming was a born leader in that regard.

You spent the next half hour unpacking the bags and putting up your equipment. A small grill over the fire pit you dug, three camping chairs, a small tent in case it rained or you were given the order to stay, your hunting knife, and a lute that you insisted on bringing. The boys thought it would be cumbersome until you explained that bards mostly fought and healed through music. It seems that their classes were more dedicated to the fine arts they needed to master to properly use their skills and less on individual team member dynamics.

By four the sky was darkening and you all sat around the fire swapping stories about monsters and legends. If you could forget about your mission and the fact you were a mage, this trip could almost be spooky camp tales instead of very real history. “Ming, you should hear some of Soul’s ballads. They are to die for.”

“Really, Colin.” You gave your friend a crooked glare that was more teasing and sarcastic than actually mean. He laughed you off while Ming leaned forward, a silent plea in his dark eyes. “Okay, okay, but just one.”

“Ooo, can it be the one you wrote, about the Monster King?” He was way to excited about that one.

“Ohh, oo the mountain heart, safely in the sheltered dark, the monster king that mourns no rest, carries on his very best. Listen child closely now, upon his brow a crown of horns, and crimson eyes of fiery scorn, to judge on him what man has wrought, and on his people long forgot. Nev’r to see the sun again.” Your fingers plucked the strings of your lute as you sang. It was a sound of mourning and a tale of warning. You had to close your eyes because the look of enraptured awe both your teammates were giving you cause a flush to rush over your face. You kept your focus on the notes, the hint of magic itching at the back of your throat whenever you sang more of an ever present buzz now... “All alone...” 

Ming and Colin sat in their respective chairs, casting glances at each other. “That was...”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

Your rubbed at the back of your neck with a nervous laugh. “Ah, thank you.”

“Man, now I wish we are a tavern or something so I could have paid for that.” Ming mumbled, a teasing grin on his face.

You looked at Colin with feigned shock. “Did he just make a joke, Cols?”

“I think he did, Soul.”

“Oh, c’mon guys.” Ming groaned as you and Colin began a back and forth about how stiff Ming seemed when it came to jokes, even though you’d just met the guy yesterday.

You leaned around the fire and patted his arm. “Welcome to the dark side.” Colin tried to stifle his laughter.

“I thought there could only be two, one master and one apprentice.” At the blank look you gave him, Ming’s eyebrows shot up. “Y’know, Starwars?”

“Dude, I’m a fantasy nerd, not a sci-fi nerd.” You kept your voice somewhat flat and your gaze just as expressionless. Ming had an look of horror. He glanced at Colin who shrugged.

“Never really into Jedi.”

“Oh, no. We need to fix this asap.” He shook his head his dark hair a little less rigid. You figured he put gel in.

Before any of you could continue badgering any other, you all felt a loud snap in your souls. The massive amount of energy pooled up beneath your feet just  _ vanished _ . Your mouth went dry. 

The barrier fell. 

Colin stood to move into the treeline where he blended fairly well. Thank goodness it was fall and his bright orange hair wouldn’t be spotted from a mile away. No one moved, listening to the sounds of the campfire pop and hiss. For five minutes, then ten, then fifte-

“I see something.” Colin’s voice was barely audible. “Monsters, seven of them... wait no that’s... that’s a human child! Six monsters and a human child.” He whisper shouted towards you.

“What are they doing?” Ming slowly rose to his feet and moved around behind Colin, you stay firmly rooted in place, every worst case scenario running through your head.

“Staring at the city, the ocean, the sky.”

You hadn’t realized you were holding your breath until your body made you gulp in more air. Your head swam as every terrible thing you’d thought of was replaced with the realization of what it meant for the human child to be alive. They were more than likely peaceful. “I’m calling Stillwater.” The boys nod at you and you shuffle off a ways. One press of a button and the phone in her office would be ringing loudly. “Please pick up, please pick-”

“Hello?” Her voice was stern just like how she answered any knock in person.

“Professor, It’s me, um... reporting in with barrier patrol.”

“Yes, I felt the aftershock, most of the faculty are in my office actually. Hold on, I’ll put you on speaker... There, go ahead dear.”

You took a shaky breath. “Okay, the child that fell last is alive and with the monsters. So far there are six that have left the Underground. We have yet to make contact. It’s getting darker by the second and while we don’t know if they mean harm, we do not want to risk fighting in the dark. Our campfire will keep burning. I need to know if we should continue quiet observation or attempt contact.”

You could hear the near silent debates of several teachers in the background. The office goes deathly quiet for a while. You’re about to ask for orders again when you hear Ming shout. “Gotta go.” You slap the phone shut fairly certain they heard the shout as well. When you whip around Ming is on the ground, a tall fish-like monster leaning over him. She has a razor sharp grin on her face. Colin is being held up by his hoodie, a very large goat-like monster in gold plated armor is studying his rapidly paling face. “Ming! Colin!”

Wrong move, both monsters are looking at you now. Your heart is pounding in your ears, every instinct screaming at you to either run for your life or protect your friends, and you about to listen to the latter when a buzz at your back prompts you to look over your shoulder. You come face to face with a leering skull, in one eye socket burns a cyan ires. It feels like it’s staring into your soul and it’s terrifying. “i wouldn’t do that if i was you, bud.”

This monster is a bit shorter than you, but his broad shoulders and chest, the heavy set of his arms are intimidating, not to mention his soul feels powerful. It’s possible you have the greatest threat present standing close enough behind you that you could feel his breath on your shoulders. You suppress the shudder that tried to rip through you. “I-” you stop yourself and swallow the quaver in your voice, “I won’t let you hurt my friends.” With that eye staring back at you it’s hard to keep your nerve, but you are determined not to give up. You are a mage, you can defend yourself.

Your eyes find Colin’s, he looks at you apologetically. He mouthed something, ‘they’re faster than they look,’ you think. With a slight nod, you turn your gaze to Ming, he’s in a staredown with the fish, though he throws his eyes your way for a second. Your tensed, waiting on him to make the first move. The tension in the air is palpable. Your muscles are taut and any second you can snap into motion. 

The goat-monster looks alarmed and puts Colin down gently. “No, please.” His voice is deep and even, like a roll of thunder only not so terrifying. “We do not mean any harm. My people have not seen humans in quite some time and we spotted your campfire from the entrance.” He lifted a massive paw to point to the cave. “I thought it wise to check the area and Undyne- Undyne please let the poor boy up- ran ahead before we could stop her.”

The fish monster, whose name is apparently Undyne, leaned back looking a bit on the sheepish side. Ming scooched back some before standing and brushing himself off. He kept a wary eye on the go- oh wait. Horns, crown, armor, giant red trident made of magic. “Holy shit,” you breathed, eyes locked onto his weapon. The monsters looked nervous, or at least the two in front of you did, the one behind was no longer emitting a threatening magic presence and may have moved back a step, you weren’t sure. But holy shit! This is King Asgore! You are meeting the literal  _ King of Monsters _ and your first thought was to blast him away for touching your friend. Crap. Really, if you had paid more attention the crown settled between his massive horns should have been a dead giveaway.

While Asgore tried to hide the spear behind his back with a half-hearted smile, both Colin and Ming had picked up on your line of thinking. Your ballad was worded from an ancient painting in The Library, but sure enough the artist did a faithful job portraying the King. You doubted it would be possible to forget the details of his golden beard and massive horns either.

“I’m terribly sorry about that. We are here peacefully, I assure you.” Asgore looked over your shoulder at the monster behind you. He moved around to go join his fellows and you got a better look. Blue hoodie, basketball shorts, socks, and ...slippers?”

“Dude, what?” You didn’t realize what you let slip till the skeleton turned around to arch a brow... er ridge at you. How is skull that flexible? It looks like it shouldn’t move but there it goes, being emotive and all. On that note, he’s a skeleton, how did he  _ breath _ on you before?

“what? don’t like my fashion sense?” His perma grin turned smug.

“Slippers.” You point to his feet with a flat look on your face. “I mean, really? At least go for sneakers or something.” Ming and Colin took the chance, now that attention wasn’t on them, to sneak around the monsters and over to your side.

“eh, ‘t’s comfy.” The skeleton shrugged, his white dot eyes flicked over to your sides as he seemed to notice the stealth maneuver the boys just pulled. His grin slackened slightly.

Asgore cleared his throat. “Might I ask what three young humans are doing in the woods at night?”

“Camping.” Ming sounded a bit perturbed and you gently smacked his arm. If he wasn’t going to follow the contingency plan then you would.

“We’re students of the College a couple hours hike down the mountain, mostly because the trail’s a switch back. Our ecology class had an extra credit assignment and we got stationed to this spot.” You gesture to the a small outdoor lab you had put up next to the tent.

“why groups of three?” 

Colin shifted a bit. “One person to watch the camp, two to collect samples. The positions rotate every day. It’s safer that way.”

The skeleton nodded, seemingly satisfied but looking at the plant matter Colin had collected while marking trails. A somewhat awkward silence descended over your camp. You shifted your phone in your hand and glanced at the monsters. “I should probably call Stillwater back so she isn’t freaking out, thinking something happened to us.” Asgore noded quickly.

Stillwater picked up on the first ring. “Are you alright?”

“Well, yes. But about my earlier questions, they aren’t important.”

There was a pause on the other end. “They found you?”

“Yep.” You keep your eyes on Asgore, also aware that the other two monsters have their eyes on you and your classmates.

“Have you had to fight?”

“No, but um. Monsters. Yeah, they are a thing apparently.” For just a moment you think you saw the skeletons eyes go out in your peripheral vision.

“Come back to the College while there is still some light, but do be careful.” Her voice is soft as she spoke, slow and careful. “I want to meet these monsters if I may.”

“Yes, professor.” You hang up the phone and take a deep breath, slapping Ming and Colin on their backs. “Pack it up boys, we’re going back early.” You approach the giant Monster King with no small amount of hesitance. “Our mythology professor would like to meet you, um... King Asgore?” All three of the monster look taken aback by your knowledge but the King quickly replaced his shock with a warm smile.

“I would love to, but... I hope they don’t mind if I take precautions.”

“So long as you aren’t marching into a place of learning with an army I don’t think there would be a problem.”

“i’m not sure this is such a good idea your majesty.”

“Sans, I appreciate your concern, but we’ll never get anywhere with establishing peace if we don’t try.” The skeleton lifts his hands in a gesture of surrender but keeps a hard eye on you. That being said, so does Undyne. Asgore offered to help you pack up the camp, sending Sans back to inform the others of what is going on. Between Undyne’s hints of aggressive overenthusiasm and Asgore unreasonably gently approach, the five of you get the camp packed in short order. Flash lights are pulled out as Ming thoroughly douses and reburied the fire. You have a headlight like the other two, each toting a backpack jammed with stuff, only you also have a lute lying over your stomach.

“HEY, Nerd! What’s that stupid looking thing?!” Gods, Undyne is loud.

“It’s a lute.” You pluck at a few strings in a test cord. The fishmonster’s ear-fins twitch and she looks very interested. “I’m a bard, so I carry an instrument everywhere I go.”

Her one amber eye lit up. “Wait, so like, you travel around playing songs and stuff? JUST LIKE-”

“Undyne.” Asgore voice is calm but scolding and she relents. Soon after Sans comes sauntering back followed by the other monsters and a small androgynous child. You gave your best smile.

“Okay so, I’m going to mark trees as we go by so you can find your way back. The mountain might look easy to climb but it’s really steep and there aren’t that many safe ways down.” You pull out your hunting knife from where it was hooked on your belt. The monsters visibly stiffen, Undyne narrows her eye, and Sans seemed to have blue sparking in his left eye socket. You quickly make your way to a tree and cut a horizontal line through the bark at your shoulder height. Marking a tick in the middle. “So this would mean straight while a line on either side would mean to turn in that direction.” You keep the blade slack at you side. “Got it?”

“yeah, we got it.” The skeleton’s eye lights are bright and focus on the knife still.

“Okay, so, let’s get going. I don’t know how good your night vision is, but um... keep an eye on where you step and don’t go racing around. You’d fall and hurt yourself.” You pass the knife off to Colin who takes the lead. He’s a bloodhound when it comes to remembering directions. You pluck on a few more notes, trying to keep yourself calm. The sound of your strings were the only thing going along the trail aside from the occasional heavy footstep that was louder than others. You found a rhythm in the walking and set about marrying it to the breath of the forest around you. A hum trickled up your throat with more variant notes than just your lute. Ming started purposefully making certain steps louder to match the beat you had going on and even Colin got into the song with the pace of marked trees.

Pretty soon the three of you were able to more or less forget the fears of the monster behind you. They were just another part of the melody. Of course your magic spiked as you sang, opening your ears to the frankly deafening beats of the soul behind you. You almost lost your footing, saving yourself as you focused on the sound you were making as opposed to the monster souls at you back. Okay, so that’s what was meant by easily distinguishable. Ow, your poor ears.

You’re fairly certain the monsters even started humming along. As you changed up the rhythm into something familiar Colin started laughing. Ming looked at your sideways with a smirk. Your voice poured into the crisp night air, “I bought a ticket for the long way ‘round, the one with the prettiest of views. It’s got mountains, It’s got rivers, It’s got sights that’d give you shivers, but it sure would be prettier with you.” 

“Oh, you’re sure gonna miss me when I’m gone.” And there was that natural falsetto you loved so much. Colin was a very good singer when he put his mind to it, but most of his talent lay in building things, be it from wood or steel. Ming laughed and jumped in too, his voice surprisingly deep. It reminded you of a tipany drum actually. He could probably project his soul through his voice too, though it would be more like a war cry than the kind of intricacies you dealt with. You snicker to yourself at the image of Ming ‘fus ro dah!’-ing someone off a cliff.

The three of you shouldered up on the path at some point, belting the song. Another voice you didn’t recognize jumped in, not quite nasally but fairly close. It didn’t matter though, you could hear them feeling the song. “You’re gonna miss me by my hair, you’re gonna miss me everywhere oh, you’re sure gonna miss me when I’m gone!”

You broke of the pattern of song to change it up, a second melody formed beneath your fingers as you coaxed the strings into singing for you. It felt appropriate given the star-studded sky above you. “Lately I’ve been, I’ve been losing sleep, dreaming about the things that we could be; and lately I’ve been, I’ve been praying hard. No more countin’ dollars, we’ll be counting stars.” You and Ming began trading lines while Colin picked up the beat with the trees.

The college lights were coming into view as the third round of that number died down. You were fairly certain that your legs would be dead tomorrow. Silver lining, you almost certainly wouldn’t have class tomorrow. Stillwater was standing at the gate along with all the other mage staff, though none of them were in formal robes. Thank goodness for that at least. No blowing the secret of mages yet though, maybe that was for the best seeing as history did have the habit of repeating itself. Asgore and the other monsters came to halt as you and the other students got very quiet.

“Very good children, back to the dorms with you.”

“Yes, Professor Stillwater.” It was creepy how you all spoke in unison. Before you had the chance to move off, the child pushed their way in front of the monsters and began signing in ASL. You were too rusty to understand, but you focused on hearing their soul and the words became clear, or at least the intention behind them.

The child was declaring themselves the ambassador of monsters, a determined smile on their face. Stillwater arched one of her immaculate eyebrows, staring down at the child. The mages were willing to listen to someone who passed through the barrier and returned. Who knows what power the child held, nor what knowledge they might be privy to that had been lost even with the college’s meticulous record keeping.

You didn’t stick around for the conversations, handing your bags to a professor who’d given you the equipment and heading back to crash in your dorm. Just as you leave the main path a chill ran down your spine. It feels like someone was watching you, though you can’t sense anyone nearby, and it doesn’t feel like magic. A sick feeling clung to your gut as you scurried back to the shelter of your lair. 

Caroline is already snoring when you make it back and you curse yourself quietly for leaving your hunting knife. Though, knowing Colin, he’d have it back in your hands before you even missed its presence.

You drop onto the comforter like lead, mind still buzzing with magic backlash. The silence of your dorm is almost deafening, funny how it had been all a bit much yesterday morning. A bitter laugh escaped you as you rolled onto your side. Each breath pulled you closer to the absence of awareness. Falling asleep used to scare you, always fear of what waited for you beyond the veil of dreams, but there were monsters. Monsters, magic, the war, all of it was real. This is your reality. Everyone else is living a dream but not you; you are awake in a way humans could only imagine in novels or movies.

You let that thought settle as your mind is pulled under. Just before your control slips away, the green overflow of your magic that you’d kept suppressed leaked into the air around you. Your dreams playing out in emerald hues to anyone who walked in before REM really took hold.

...

Ugh, wow okay. Your arms were numb and ached when you woke, lifted and pinned above your head which had twisted in such a way your neck was stiff. Your hips and feet ached too, laying somewhat awkwardly half out of bed. What were you dreaming about that caused this mess? 

Sweat clung to your skin, plastering your shirt and... oh shit you fell asleep in your hiking clothes. Oh, you felt so gross, hair sticking at the corner of your mouth and one foot still caught in a boot. Nope. You are taking a shower right now. Not dealing with this!

You bundled up lounge wear and fresh undergarments, shoving open the bathroom door. Caroline didn’t seem to be up yet, her toothbrush still wrapped up as it was every night. At least you didn’t have to apologize for stumbling in on her. You dropped your clothes on the toilet lid and set about running water for a shower, stripping off your forestry gross clothes while it warmed up.

“Haaa.” You hadn’t meant to make that noise. Oh well. The hot water felt so good on your skin. You plucked up your course shower brush and set about scrubbing and sudsing every corner of your skin until you were clean and fresh. You could feel the dirt getting stripped off and the gentle lotioned soap soothing out any irritation in your skin. 

“Hey, girl!” Caroline knocked on the door, causing you to jump with a squeak. “Come out here asap. There’s some major tom foolery going on in the news. Monsters from under the mountain or some shit.”

If only you could just  _ tell her _ ! You groan at having to listen to mundies, or mages pretending to be mundies, go over the story you were there for. This wasn’t going to be a nice, relaxing day like you thought, was it.

You flipped off the water and pushed the curtain back, taking a towel to every corner of your skin before winding a second, smaller towel through your hair. Slipping into your clothes then putting your hair up in toweled knot to dry, you step out of the steaming bathroom. There on the TV is Stillwater standing beside the massive Asgore.

Caroline had popcorn in her lap and was sitting on the couch in her ‘Saturday morning best’, that is to say, sweats. “I didn’t know they were going to be making a movie on campus. Do you think we’ll be famous backgrounders or something?”

“What makes you think this is a movie, Care?”

She shrugged. “I mean, y’know the purge got all avantgarde with their ads, and... I mean, c’mon. Monsters? That whole old folktale legend thing about Mt. Ebott? They just have to be capitalizing on it for a horror movie, or fantasy adventure, or something.”

“I dunno, King Asgore looks pretty real.”

“CGI.” Careline shoved more burst corn kernels into her mouth.

You sat down next to her with a sigh. “Didn’t know you were a skeptic.”

The news was showing the entrance to the cave, following the path you’d hiked earlier. Sans was leading them, doing this weird thing whenever the camera moved off him and then back he’d be a few feet further ahead, staring back at the news crew with a lazy grin. It didn’t seem like he was moving at all. Honestly, it was super unsettling.

You saw Caroline’s face bunch out the corner of your eye. “Hey, aren’t those the markers you use? And... wait, that’s the same path you went camping on... And you said you wouldn’t be back for-” Oh, there are all the pieces fitting together. Took longer than normal, must be ‘cause she’s still half asleep. “Oh my GOD!” Her head whipped around to face you and she grabbed the collar of your shirt, almost causing the popcorn to go sailing to the ground. “Monsters are real?! And you were there!!”

“Yep.”  _ How am I so chill about this _ ?

“Oh MY GOD!” Care bolts off the sofa. “They’re here, on campus. Right now?!” Consequently she hadn’t let you go, dragging you to your feet with her.

“Last I saw them, yes.”

She went suddenly very quiet. “Did you talk to one?”

You pointed at the screen where Asgore had taken the podium to speak for his people. “That one.” Gods that sounds racist to call the King an ‘it’, or imply anyway. You didn’t have time to correct yourself as Caroline practically screamed. Your roomie tossed her hands in the air and ran back to her room, not even bothering to close the door all the way as she got changed. “Well, I’m not getting left out!” She rushed out, dressed yes, but poorly. Her shirt was on backwards, her jeans inside out, and belt flipped askew. “I’m going to meet one!”

“How about you try again, and maybe slow down, yeah?”

Care looked down at herself and flushed. “Oh, right. Yeah.”

You weren’t sure what you expected from Caroline when it came to monster reactions, but this enthusiasm wasn’t it. Not that it wasn’t nice. Yet again you felt the burn to just  _ tell her _ but no, you weren’t allowed. Unless monsters and mages were outed to the world at the same time and you just missed it, your powers were still to be kept secret. Gods you hated that, but it was better this way. Or so everyone told you. Well, you could see where they were coming from. Monsters were a huge thing to get used to after all and just adding magical humans to the mix would be way too much. It still hurt, having to deny a part of yourself but it wasn’t just other humans to worry about. How would the monsters feel to know that magic hadn’t died out, that the same group that imprisoned them still effectively ruled the surface?

You worried your lower lip, fingers twitching at your sides.

“Are you coming?” Caroline leaned over the back of the sofa, her face soft and filled with concern. 

“Ah, no. I’m still really dead from hiking. You go ahead. I’ll work on that song I’ve been writing.” You flash your best smile though she seems unconvinced.

“Well, okay. If that’s what you want. Imma go make a monster friend. Oh, I wonder if any will enroll in WCC with us.” And then she was out the door, leaving you alone in the silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs referenced are "The Cup Song" by Anna Kendrick and "Counting Stars" by One Republic
> 
> X warcraftedtardis.tumblr.com  
> x so0that.deviantart.com


	3. Meeting House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens and politics is as politics does. I picked topics not quite recent in terms of news, it isn't random, just what I've been exposed to recently and in an attempt to show radical differences in what monster may have expected the world to be like. Or maybe not. Who knows?

 

“The very interesting thing about dreams is, one isn’t aware they are asleep; and if they do, in fact, become aware, the ‘reality’ of a dream is their’s to shape. What then is to be said of time? If time may be shaped by an individual aware of it in the manner of the aware dreamer, is there anything that can truly stop them? May they shape the threads of time as if a spinner sitting at her loom? Or are there other complexities that elude us all, dreamers still in the collective unconsciousness of life?”

- _ Questions on the nature of magic and time _ , by Professor W. D. Harding, White Castle College c.a. 1647 A.D.

It was little more than an implication on her part, but an implication was just enough to set his teeth on edge. The mage wiped a cloth down his soot-smeared face, muttering curses to the mixture of magic that had just erupted in his face. A momentary lapse in concentration is all. Yes, momentary lapse. “As much as I appreciate you advice, General, I believe  _ I _ am the expert on magical weaponry here. Perhaps you may leave me to my work?” Harding dropped the cloth onto an old wooden table, scientific and magic experiments alike sharing cluttered space in the cramped tower room he had for personal practice. It was about as featureless as one might imagine, simple stone masonry befitting the era, the royal insignia plastered on a tapestry by the solitary barred window overlooking the battlements. It was rather late but still hot enough Harding sweltered under his black robes.

The general's ease in such weather confounded the old mage, though it really shouldn’t. She dressed more likened to a barbarian than a knight. “Suit yourself, Professor. I was merely imploring you to caution. You’re likely to turn yourself to ash and bones toying with necromancy. The King might see fit to take your head in that case.” The soft upward tug on her lips sent a shock of indignation burning through his back. 

Necromancy.  _ Necromancy _ ? How dull  _ are _ these people?! Filling her head with such nonsense as necromancy! “I’m not reanimating a corpse, General!” Harding could take her mockery, and by extension the court’s, no longer. Mundies, never understanding the finer points of magic. Oh he ought have reared her better if he could! “These ‘bones’, as you so aptly thought to describe, are magical constructs. There is no ‘physical’ matter about them. I’m experimenting to prove that monsters are made solely of magic and can have their physical properties modified. Perhaps even prove that monsters can be artificially made!” The court wizard seethed as General Edith Greyback began to laugh.

“You are far too easy to rile, old man.” She crossed her arms with a stubborn huff, tossing the long curls of her raven-wing hair over the spaulders of her armor. “Now, about that potion I requested?”

“Oh, once it conveniences you, then you are willing to listen? Honestly girl, I wish you took more from your mother than me.”

Edith leapt up from the stool on which she reclined, sending it clattering to the dirty tiled floor. Her lone metal gauntlet slapped down over his lips while her eyes were wide with shock and anger. “Keep your voice down!” She hissed, “I don’t need everyone in the castle to know I’m a woman, least of all  _ your _ bastard child and not the Duke’s!”

The wizard sighed softly, gently removing the General’s hand from his now bruised mouth. “Yes, well, perhaps you should think of that before ‘riling up’ the ‘old man’.” He arched one of his age bleached brows at her quivering lower lip and water eyes. “Here,” Harding sighed, placing a bottle into his daughter’s metal plated hand. “Remember to stay hydrated. Be sure to have plenty of red meats and avoid citrus.”

Just as she was about to yank her hand away, and the bottle with it, the old wizard leveled his gaze at her. “I don’t suppose I need to tell you about the scullery maids again?”

The General flushed a deep blushing hue. “Y-Yes, father.” Her voice was a muffled stuter of shame. She knocked back the whole drink at once, and within a few moments ceased to be a ‘she’ at all.  “I’ll leave you to your work then, Professor.” The General’s voice had taken on the deeper rasp of his masculine form, looking far more like the Duke then may have been fortunate. Not that Harding minded. Edith, or Eric as it were, was his own man. Making his way in exploits far too noble to ignore, one war after another, one battlefield to the next. In a way, Harding was proud of his progeny. Eric living proof that magic need not be allocated only to the field of battle, but everyday life as well.

‘Form is but an illusion,’ he jotted down in his journal. The potion and magic involved recorded therein. ‘True substance belies in the SOUL.’ Be that his ‘daughter’ always felt her veil of flesh did not suit her soul, it mattered not to Harding.  His work before him, the wizard turned to wave the knight off. “Go back to that war room of yours, boy. I have little time for you, and less patients.”

The General grined and, with a jovial jolt to his step, departed Harding’s tower. Steel greaves clanking all the way down the three stories of spiraling steps. The court wizard, once again alone, bent over the shell he constructed with such care. A skeleton-esk shape, slightly taller than a man with smooth, near featureless skull. The mage rubbed some healing salts onto the alchemy circles etched into the back of his hands and set to forming another ‘bone’ layer over the right ulna. A little more and it would be complete.

* * *

You had gotten through about half of a score before tossing it, slamming your head against the desk.  _ Why, muse? Why do you leave me!? _ Your mind clawed at anything for inspiration before an overpowering melody shot through your soul. It brought tears to your eyes as you pulled back, desperate to alleviate the painful sound. You glanced out your window to a monster walking by with a human student. You recognized the human as a mage... Monsters...  _ Wait, no brain what are you thinking!? _ Shaking your head did nothing to fling the clinging desperation away. Monster souls were louder and just...’sounded’ different. It would be easy to sit in the park or on the college green, to get inspired from the new souls darting around your stomping grounds.

_ But it would be so rude.  _

Yet, musicians used people they met, loved ones, and even a few words exchanged with strangers all the time. If you're writing a song it shouldn’t be so bad. 

_ It’s still an invasion of privacy, that isn’t right.  _

You were at war with yourself until you saw a small ghost-like monster with a comparatively quiet soul getting harassed by some of the mundie students. Ming must be rubbing off on you already. You were grabbing your jacket, student card, and room key before you knew it. Practically storming onto the scene just as the ghost broke down in tears. The humans were laughing.

“Hey asshole!” At this rate the monsters were going to get cornered and the humans to scared of ‘new’ and ‘change’ were going to force a war. Colin would never see a world where he didn’t have to hide. Ming wouldn’t prove himself in... whatever it was he wanted to prove; really just the feeling he put off. And you would never... what was your motivation again? Why are you here right now? To what, be kind? Just because you’re a greenie?

Too late for self doubt, the jerkwad that had been laying it on the worst wheeled around to face you. It took maybe two seconds for his expression to go from pissed, to confused, to...  _ oh gods stop looking at me like that, perverted pig _ ! There is the anger again. Good. Hold on to that. “Heh, why don’t you run along, sweet stuff. My buddy and I are almost done, then... what say I buy ya a drink.”

The first thing that popped into your head was from a Pink song. “ _ Keep your drink just gimme the money. It’s just you and your hand tonight. _ ” A sneer pulled over your lips at that thought. You lifted your chin, crossed your arms over your chest, and glared at him. “I’d rather cuddle that ghost. They at least seem like pleasant company.” Gods it was hard sometimes. You could send these two scurrying away with a single word. One well placed burst of magic and poof, a bat out of hell. The fact that you even considered doing so made you flinch internally.

Consequently your disgust showed in your face and the two students took a quick look around. Apparently your shout had draw attention previously averted. Seeing you had sent a shock of boldness through the other few mage students, which in turn spread to the softer-hearted mundies. The rapid change in expressions gave you a flush of confidence and you took a step forward. “White Castle College prides itself on Integrity, Kindness, Justice, Bravery, Perseverance, Patience, and Determination. Or did you forget that immediately after signing the oath of fellowship that you were required to even be admitted?” Oh wow, you sound like your mother when you’re chastising someone. At least one of the boys had the good sense to look ashamed, the other just cycled back into pissed off. Both left shortly after under the heated glares of the students present.

With a firm nod and mental pat on the back, you approached the crying ghost. “Are you alright?” He responded with a torrent of mumbled apologies and self deprecation, only half of which you managed to catch. Not really knowing where the sides of his face were, you opted to gently cup his headphones and smile at him. “Hey, you don’t have to say sorry for anything, it was those guys being jerks, not your fault at all. So, smile a little, okay?” You tilted your head to the side and pulled the expression you wished he would make. It got just a crack of a smile out of him, but that was enough. 

Your soul warmed at the gentle expression. Then you noticed one of the mundie students subtly recording you. Oh boy, this could get interesting.  _ Just ignore him Soul. You have a monster to help. _ “So are you going to be taking any classes at WCC?”

“I um, yes actually.” He fiddled a little with his nub-like arms. “I got lost going to my astrology class. Oh, sorry you didn’t ask that, I must be bothering you, sorry.”

You let out a sigh through your nose and bent forward to look the ghost in the eyes. “You are a wonderful person and I really appreciate you.” This could be said with such certainty because you heard it from him. Sure the little ghost had anxiety and shy did not begin to cover how reserved he was, but you could tell he was kind, and loving, and open, and just in need of a friend. Your soul must have been very bright in your eyes because the monster flushed slightly and nodded. “C’mon, I’ll help you get to class, okay?”

“I don’t want to be a bother.”

“Nonsense. I insist.” You extend a hand while straightening up and the ghost put his nub in your palm. Well it was more like pretending that you had something to hold. Unlike his headphones, he didn’t appear to be corporeal.

“Ah, I haven’t even introduced myself yet. My n-name is Napstablook.”

His slight stutter caused a grin to twitch at your lips. You returned the courtesy of introductions to the monster, “...though everyone I know calls me Soul.”

Napstablook hesitated a moment before nodding with a small smile taking up residence on his features. “I can see why.” Ice prickled up your spine but you decided to play it of as confusion. He just shook his head and mumbled never minds.

The two of you had gotten to the sciences building when Colin nearly crashed into you. He sagged and staggered to a halt, breathing heavily. “There- ha- you are.”

“Dude, Cols, are you okay?”

He flicked a lock of orange hair out of his eyes a glare softly at you. A ‘do I look okay?’ kind of glare. “Stillwater wants to see us. Ming’s already there. You weren’t in your room so I had to chase you all over campus.”

“Ah, sorry.” You twirled a bit of your hair sheepishly. “I was showing a new student around. Napstablook, this is my friend Colin. Colin, Napstablook.

They shook hands... sort of, and you took your leave of the ghost monster. Judging by how fidgety your friend was being, whatever Stillwater wanted wasn’t good. That was becoming a pattern, and not one that you liked.

The Professor herself was seated in her office with Ming stiff in a chair. The presence of one skeleton in blue the cause. You could see the sparks of gold in the warrior's dark eyes, nervous and pent up magic swirling under his palms. The monster seemed equally tense, a more fast paced rhythm hinting underneath the smooth tempo of his soul. If you recalled, his name was Sans, the one that had felt so intimidating before. In the light he was... underwhelming. Dressed in a loose hoodie, old and getting slightly ratty, worn slippers, basketball shorts, and socks that had once been a pure white. He locked eyes with you and you stared right back. 

“Ah, students. it’s good you’ve gotten here in a timely manner.” Stillwater clasped her hands primly in her lap and gazed into your soul. “This is the Judge, he’ll be in charge of King Asgore’s security and prevention departments while the more trying portion of their reentry into society is underway. As the first contact, you three will be our ambassadors, though more specific to the college and then humanity in general.” She turned her eyes, and very slightly her chin, towards Sans. “I trust you can make introductions for yourself?”

“heh, sure thing. sans, sans the skeleton.” He had this ominous grin on his face, extending his hand towards Ming who flinched. You set your focus on the warrior and just prayed that he had a staggering amount of control. The mage in training took a deep breath through his nose and quashed his magic down, shaking the skeleton’s hand. A resounding flatulent sound proving there was a whoopie cushion attached to the monster’s palm. Ming to just stared slack-jawed at Sans.

Colin tried not to laugh, he really did. You just elbowed him in the ribs. Now was not the time for laughter, not when Sans soul oscillated at such a pace reading him was impossible. Since monsters didn’t have to rely on biochemical fall backs, it made sense to assume his tempo matched with his thoughts. Truly a terrifying mind.

“Is that all, Professor?” You kept your voice crisp, professional.

She smiled at you, a twinkle in her eyes. “Actually no. Mr. Sans, might I ask you to wait outside a moment? These three will be missing some academics with their new roles and we must set time for them to catch up on work.”

The monster shrugged. “sure thing, prof.”

He left, the door was locked, and the four mages still within sat in silence.

“He’s going to find us out, isn’t he Professor?” Your voice was pinched with worry. Last night still sent a crawling chill up your back the more you thought about it.

“I’m afraid so, my dear.” The aged mage knit her fingers together with an even sterner look to her. “The question remains whether it is better to be caught in a lie after trust is established or risk the total breakdown of any further cooperation on the truth. Colin, what do you think?”

“M-me? Well, um... the monsters must hate mages to an extent, but if they can be made aware that their own ambassador is also a mage, and a powerful one despite their age, we might be able to mend relations enough. If we can earn a word in the monster’s court then it will strengthen both our positions later. It may be too bold to commit such a plan... I’d like to consult Soul on her opinion of the Judge. She’s better at me when it comes to reading people, being a Bard and all.”

You jolted slightly in your recent seat, eyes fixed on Colin who briefly glanced at you. He blushed slightly and held his gaze away. So being singled out as a bard wasn’t the greatest feeling when it was used as a sole justifier for a talent or some other insight, but you were even more surprised by his deference to your decisions. You suppose it could be expected after all the time he’s know you, and you him. But sill... You bit your lower lip.

Stillwater nodded once. “And you, Ming?”

The warrior crossed his arms, casting glances at the closed door. “I don’t trust them quite so much. Monsterkind has been locked under a mountain for a thousand years or more. The war that put them there was fought by mages, their family, friends, and loved ones were killed by mages, enslaved by mages. Hatred for humanity, even mundies, could crop up at any moment in a just fervor that we will be forced to engage.” Ming lowered his eye, going silent in thought for a moment. “One wrong breeds another in a never ending cycle of violence, we should not give them the chance to throw a centuries past bloodbath in our faces. Once monsters are established, then it may be a more opportune time to step out of the shadows.” Ming looked to you with a solemn expression. “Only Soul can tell when that time will arrive. I’ve not met a better ‘musician’, Bard or no.”

On instinct your shoulders squashed upward, eyes widened slightly. That’s very high praise, you're not that good... There are those words again. Not good enough, never that skillful. You aren’t though. There are plenty of others who are better than you. You don’t deserve this faith, this trust. When it counts your voice will fail you and everything will come crashing down. You can’t even write one song without cheating. How are you ever going to change anything? You’ve only known Ming for a few days and he’s placing you on the same pedestal, deferring to your judgment, but why?  _ I’m not so wise, or brave, or just that you should look up to me. _

Your knuckles were practically white from gripping the upholstered chair arms.

“... child,” Stillwater placed her hand on your shoulder ripping you from paralyzed tunnel vision. Both the boys were looking at you with concern, exchanging glances. The Professor called your attention back with a slight clearing of her throat. “I understand there is much weight on this decision and I do not expect you to make it. The endorsement of one plan over another will only be suggested to the council. They will take action from there. You should take time. Really think it over and come back to me when your soul has decided. Please don’t take too long.”

Oh. You let out a slow breath and felt your nerves unwind. Of course they weren’t going to stick a college student with the most important choice in history. That would be moronic. Don’t have an inflated ego... Did that ghost from earlier rub off on you or was this your norm for high pressure situations. You can’t quite remember. Either way a decision you still had to make. A very impactful decision.

Ming shifted and finally stood. “Professor, will we be actually missing classes for our duties? Perhaps we should address this?”

“Yes,” she leaned forward on her massive oaken desk with a slight downward bow to her lips. “You three have different professors for your various classes, but to keep things simple, I recommend you speak to your faculty advisers. From there, we can be sure that all of you are on duty in some capacity over the majority of the day.” Stillwater straightened up and punched some numbers into her desk phone. “That being said, we first must determine what times would be most beneficial to King Asgore and his work.”

The phone rung for a few moments before the all too recognizable voice of Undyne shot through the speaker. Stillwater held the device a good foot away from her head, keeping a perfectly straight face as the fish monster went on a tirade about anime to someone in the background. “Hello?! Who is this and what do you want!?”

Ming stiffened behind you. He had taken to pacing, clearly lost in thought until Undyne’s direct address. There was something dark in his expression, hands shaking slightly at his sides. Though... he ‘sounded’ normal enough. Colin was also unsettled and if you were to be totally honest, so were you.

“Hello, Undyne. It’s Stillwater, from White Castle College. I have the student ambassadors with me and we would like to speak to the king. There are quite a few schedule changes to be hammered out.” The professor was completely unfazed by the monster’s loud and hostile shouting, a fact that made some amount of sense given the senior mage’s age and power. She smiled slightly and focused her attention back on what the monster was angrily belting out. Undyne just had no chill.

“Yes...” Stillwater flicked her finger and a pen leapt from her holder onto a sticky note, furiously scribbling down all the information it’s master received. “That would be a little trying on the students, but I’m sure they would be willing to accommodate... Very short notice of you, Undyne. I hope that isn’t spite in your tone. Our species will get nowhere if  _ we _ too are hostile... Thank you, I’ll hold.” The professor adjusted the reading glasses perched on her mildly hooked nose, looking perfectly content with the goings on. You on the other hand were slightly slack jawed at how she had been able to understand  _ any _ of that! Undyne may be loud but it all ran together for you, not a single syllable to be sorted out from the auditory onslaught that was the Captain of the Royal Guard's voice.

Colin had shifted closer to you. Ming had a hand on both your shoulder and Colin’s. It was an oddly protective gesture, but not entirely unwelcome at the moment. “So... our times then?” The warrior finally seemed to relax. You took a deep breath, no longer caught up by the ‘Undyne’ dilemma, your mind cycled right back to the issue at hand, what to tell monster kind. Your fingers twitched as you rung your jacket sleeves. Well, at least you had an emotion to preface your next musical score on, anxiety.

Times were set for being ‘on duty’, teachers to inform, all the while you were silently spiraling into a never ending cycle of self-doubt and panic. It felt like your soul might burst and then collapse in on itself at any moment. It certainly didn’t help that just as you left the building to go back to your dorm, the sparking buzz of magic scored up your spine and out the top of your head. It left a funny taste in your mouth and gave you a throbbing headache. “heya, kiddo. mind if i tag along?” The skeleton monster’s voice rumbled from just over your left shoulder, stiffening every joint in your body. The phrase ‘blood turned to ice’ was never more literal than at this moment. Your eyes flashed a bright green as you let out a startled shriek, whipping around to face Sans. His soul song blasting in your ears while your own soul burned in shock, ready to fight at any second.

“heh. no need to act so rattled, kiddo. yer looking  _ pale as death _ , i don’ think that’s too healthy.”

You blinked quickly to force the magic from your eyes. Sans’ sockets appeared to be closed while he laughed so maybe he hadn’t seen? Either way, you were in no mood for this. “Don’t  _ do _ that!” You hiss out in frustration at being simultaneously scared and deafened. Ow, ow ow ow. Why did monsters have to be so  _ loud _ ? How is Sans even that  _ stealthy _ ?! Your hands sought your temples as you rubbed the tension away.

“the sneaking or the puns?”

“Yes.”

The skeleton laughed and shrugged, moving to walk past you. “no need ta be a smart  _ ass _ .”

You yelped in a very undignified manner, hands flying up into the air, and Sans shoved his own hand back into his hoodie pocket. The smirk on his face, erg! You really wanted to wipe that smug grin right off his shiny, white skull. “Did you just make a _pun_ , and _cop_ _a feel_ on me at the _same_ _time_.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement of extreme displeasure and disbelief. You caught up to him, ready to give this skeleton a piece of your mind when you noticed the look in his eye lights. He was daring you to make a scene. How this played out was entirely up to you, either kick up a fuss or chew him out in private. Either way, Sans was going to get it, but one could potentially damage monster-human relations, monsters as students on campuses all across the country, and general civic policy as well.

You glared at him, previous shyness forgotten. “Don’t think you’re off the hook for that. Once we get to my dorm, I swear to Asgore I’m going to.... to-” you cut yourself off in an aggravated snarl at the way Sans’ grin just kept getting wider. _ It’s gonna be too big for his stupid head in a moment. Gods, why did I say ‘we’ and ‘my dorm’ in the same sentence? Idiot! _ “Ugh, whatever. C’mon, if you’re going to follow me around anyway.”

“don’ mind if i do.”

Seething, you trudge back to your dorm, sign the skeleton in at the front desk-- much to the dorm monitor’s bewilderment-- and dragging yourself up the stairs to your room. “My roommate might not be back yet, just be prepare for her to freak out seeing you.”

Sans’ posture went ridged and you huffed a sigh. He clearly took that to the extreme negative. The lock clicked open and you turned to look at him.

“She wouldn’t shut up about making friends with a monster this morning, nearly ran out of the dorm with her clothes on inside out and the like... Don’t tell her I said that by the way.”

The monster visible relaxed again, his tempo slowing down somewhat as you pushed the door open. Like you thought, she was still out. Well, at least you wouldn’t have to worry about her reaction to Sans. You dropped your keys in the bowl and shrugged off your jacket, pacing into your room to grab your laptop. No way were you letting him out of your sight for a while yet, but you did need to email teachers about classes and new obligations that might take your time from their courses.

You dropped onto the couch with a grunt and a shrugging gesture to the many seats around the small living room space. Sans took the hint and made himself comfortable while you flicked on the TV. It was still on the news station which didn’t seem awful, but really you just wanted something on as background. They were still running through the press conference from earlier, though there was more commentary about the event this time from various liberal and conservative sources. The monster lounging on your favorite beanbag chair snapped his attention to the screen pretty quickly, engrossed in the subject matter as it pertained to his future most heavily. For a moment, you imagined what it would be like to be in his... slippers. If and when mages were outed to the world, the news could very well demonize your people as well, if the heated debate about national security was any indication.

Realistically there was very little you could do as one person, as one college student, as one mage, among thousands and thousands of mundies. You had to retype a sentence for a third time having been distracted the first two times by Sans, the news, and your shaking hands.

By the time you had finished the ‘debate’ was largely over leaving a sour taste in your mouth.

“The fact remains,” one anchor raised her voice to be heard above the shouting match that had broken out, “King Asgore refuses to tell us anything by way of what his people are capable of, and that just isn’t safe!”

“I think he has a right to deny humans that information, Martha. Just look at them, monsters, living folktales that, surprise, surprise, _aren’t_ _folktales_! Look at what humans have _done_! We don’t have the right to demand that information from him.”

Just before the shouting could start again, the moderator intervened. “That has to be the last word for today. Next up will be Joseph Aizen with the twelve-o’clock outlook. Joe.”

There was a brief pause as the feed switched over to Joe Aizen, but that was typical of all live news coverage. “Thank you, Thom. Several nations are reporting protests, demanding a ban on immigration from the middle-east as conflicts there continue to rise, some say things have taken a turn for the worst. Unsurprisingly the United Nation has yet to take an official stance on the rising tensions but it is expected that they will be calling for cross national aide.

“In other news, the HMS Dominion, a replica cruse frigate, has yet to be recovered after disappearing from the British sovereign territories just last week, no word has been received from any of the sixty plus crew members and families are growing restless. Authorities have had no leads on the missing vessel, and the royal navy has released statements saying the GPS tracker and black box placed on board have both been deactivated making tracking impossible at this time.

“Japan has declared a state of emergency, evacuating the eastern coastal cities and recommending citizens get to higher ground as an out of season tropical storm is brewing a few miles off shore. Weather centers have cited the hurricane as category four and are estimating several billions in property damage if it continues to gain speed in the next few days. All in al-”

You switch off the TV and take a deep breath. “It’s not as fantastic as you all imagined, hu?”

Sans looked over at you, a serious bend to his smile. “well-”


	4. The Run Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans does some regrettable, socially unacceptable things

_ You switch off the TV and take a deep breath. “It’s not as fantastic as you all imagined, hu?” _

_ Sans looked over at you, a serious bend to his smile. “well-”  _

To say Caroline exploded through the door might be an understatement. She actually did scream at seeing Sans, bouncing on her toes, sending her chest shaking in that perfect way that made you just a  _ little _ jealous. “Oh. My. Gods!! The door lady wasn’t shittin’ me!” While you genuinely smiled to see her so happy, you could without the banshee screams.

You heaved yourself off the couch with some difficulty in an attempt to calm her. “Care, Sans the skeleton.” The skeleton monster’s eyes were darting between you and Caroline, tiny points of white light reminding you of a startled cat. He had a death grip on your bean bag chair that was only now starting to relax.

“I know who he is silly. He was on TV!” Her stage whisper could use work. and by work you of course meant she could actually whisper. The next few minutes were spent awkwardly presiding over a mundie and monster shaking hands; said monster trying to get a handle on your roommate’s bombastic energy. “Whew, you are so cool.” It seemed that she might actually have stars in her eyes, staring at the Sans’ hand as she shook it.

“heh, well then you should meet my brother.”

“Okay so,” you gently pulled Care away from Sans, his tense grin slackening somewhat. “why don’t you tell me how your day’s been? We can cook lunch together.” You gave Sans a nervous smile, mouthing a sorry while guiding Caroline’s jubilant self into the kitchen area. The judge moved himself to the breakfast counter, keeping an eagle eye on the two of you, especially when you got the knife for vegetables.

Caroline was more than happy to start on food, chattering on about a pair consisting of a cat and an alligator monster, Catty and Bratty. From the way she described them, it seemed she was quite taken. Her fascination with monsters didn’t stop at the oddity of them like most humans’ did; she kept asking Sans about culture, ideals, philosophy. Typical political science major stuff. While he was caught off guard by the all the questions at first, he seemed to be warming up to her very quickly. You could almost ignore the puns he kept throwing at you, probably trying to get you to laugh.

_ Not going to happen _ , you stubbornly thought, dicing up a tomato. Oh, that’s right, you still have to yell at Sans for grabbing your ass earlier... You glanced to Caroline, stony walls around your soul practically melting at her glowing smile. You just couldn’t ruin this for her, no matter how stressed you were feeling. You were worried about things that she couldn’t begin to understand.

Sans caught your eye, he had been studying your face for a few seconds, the slight smile you hadn’t noticed getting wiped off as you met his gaze. The skeleton’s lit pupils flicked down to the center of your chest. You knew he was trying to look at you soul, to figure you out. Must be hard to justify a ‘kind soul’ with a cold person. Your heart did skip a beat at the realization. Mage souls were definitely brighter and more vibrant than non-mage souls. It would be obvious for any monster who could see that you were a mage.  _ Sorry, Sans, I’m not going to put everything at risk, I won’t be the person to bring the war back _ . You crossed your arms over your chest and cocked an eyebrow at him, jaw subtly tightening until your teeth ached. He looked away too quickly.

Once Caroline was satisfied with the tuna fillets she’s been seasoning she slid the tray into the heated oven and leaned against the counter next to you. You glanced at her and she frowned, pulling your belt a little when you went to scraped the salads together. “Hey, something’s up with you.”

“What are you talking about, Care?”

She took the knife from your hand, placing it on the linoleum counter and turned you to face her. Suddenly you were being hugged, _very_ _tightly_. “Sorry, I didn’t even notice before. Heh, just going on about me and my day without even asking about your’s.” 

Your anxiety spiked for a brief second making it a little hard to breath, but this is Caroline. Of course she can read you, you’ve been living together for most of three years. Your arms weakly rest around her ribs and you sigh into her shoulder. “Yeah, sorry. Just had a... an eventful morning. Haven’t really had time to uh, think it all through, I guess.” You let go, she gives you one last squeeze and took a step back. Her hands pinched your cheeks until you were smiling. It hurt a little and you laughed. “Okay, okay.” You pulled her fingers away from you face, thoroughly embarrassed at the low chuckle coming from a certain monster perched on the bar stool to your right.

“you look good when you smile, kid.” Sans had this not-quite-shit-eating grin on his face. “you should do it more.”

“Oh?”  _ C’mon, Sans. Just as I’m getting cheered up?  _  You were feeling a little better-- no that was a lie, but with Care here... So, trying to be a stoic like your old man isn’t going to work. Besides two can play at his game. “Really? I thought you were already pleased with my  _ ass _ ets.”

Sans’ smile dropped slightly and you could practically see the gears turning. He soon went blue in the face, though from mortification or blushing was impossible to tell. “erh, i uh-”

“You’re looking a bit flushed there, Sans. Need an  _ ass _ prin?” You turned fully away from Caroline, hands on hips and a smirk on your face.

“k-kid?”

“I didn’t realize you were an officer too, Judge. Must be why you can  _ cop-a-feel _ or two.”

Caroline’s eyes went wide and she covered her burgeoning grin.

“Hey, Sans, wanna hear a dirty joke that’ll make you laugh your ass off? Oh, wait, I see you already heard it.” You leaned towards the monster with a serious glare. You roommate losing it, slumping against the counter. Dirty jokes were her weakness after all. Sans was starting to sweat-- you weren’t going to question it--, trying to look anywhere  _ butt _ your face. He knew you were calling him out on his earlier behavior, and while you were sure he got the message, you didn’t want Caroline to know.

“okay, i get it.” He pointedly stared at the counter, grin twitching slightly. “though i gotta ask,”-- his smile was back, oh gods!-- “didja sit in a pile of sugar? ‘cause you get a pretty sweet ass.”

And, done. Nope. Outtie. You just turned on your heels and went back to furiously chopping the lettuce and other assorted fixings. Caroline’s roaring behind you. She actually high fivied him, that innocent traitor!

Once you had thoroughly subjected the plant matter to a harsh tossing, you took a deep breath and pulled out three plates. You saw Sans raise a brow ridge at you, so you just threw him a sickeningly pleasant smile. “What? You should eat more. Need to put some meat on those bones.” He snorted at the pun and you could sense another one coming. Some excuse not to eat. You refused to give him an inch. “Oh, and you just have to try Care’s cooking.” You placed the plates down with a mock pout. “I just know she’d be super disappointed if you didn’t.”

Care started laughing nervously, trying to make an excuse for him now too. You weren’t so ignorant of magic and general monster ‘folklore’ to think a skeleton couldn’t eat. Instead you patted Care’s shoulder with a soft smile. She still looked flustered and nervous but stopped mumbling random excuses.

You slid on the oven mit and extricated the fish, placing a fillet on each salad bedding and drizzling them with a homemade dressing. Mix a bit of mayo and ketchup together; tastes pretty good, especially with a little bit of pickle relish. You did notice Sans staring at the tomato paste longingly. Now that you would question.

The three of you moved to resume positions on the living room couch, though Sans still took the bean bag chair. Care flipped the TV back on to her favorite cooking competition, explaining the rules to Sans as you all had missed the first few minutes. “So you try to sabotage your opponents dishes by limiting what they can cook with either tools or ingredients. The judge doesn’t know what handicaps were given and they go around tasting the food to see if it meets their standards. One person is eliminated each round and sent home. The winner walks away with all the money they didn’t use.” She had placed her lunch on the chair arm, leaning over slightly to talk with Sans.

While you weren’t the most interested in this particular episode you did still glance at the TV every few minutes. But every time you looked back at Sans his dish was a little emptier. Your brows slowly pinched together, flicking your gaze over to Caroline who was staring at the show, chattering away about how much she loved the host. By the time your eyes were back on Sans, the entire plate had been emptied  _ and licked clean _ . He met your gaze with a languid smile but you just stared.

How. In. The. Fu- Oh hey, foot in your face!

You totally didn’t squeak while leaning back at Caroline's foot swung out into the air where your head had just been seconds before, the roommate in question lying face down in the carpet. She had somehow managed to save her plate from tumbling to the ground, but only by a slight margin. “Care are you-”

“Not another word,” she grumbled around a mouthful of rug. Sans had since moved into the kitchen, gone the second you broke eye contact with him. The fucker was fast, you’d give him that. He returned a few seconds later with your band-aide kit from the bathroom, handing one to Care as she sat up. While for the most part undamaged, there was a small cut on her forehead where the table knife dug into her skin. It wasn’t too bad, but it still bled quite a bit. Sans seemed more on edge than ever before.

“Here, give me your plate. I’ll get you some cotton balls and rubbing alcohol.” You held out your hand as Caroline passed her dish over, muttering about how ineffectual hydrogen peroxide actually was. “Keep her hands off it, will you?” you flat out ignored her grumbling, opting to enlist the jittery skeleton’s help. At least give him something to do that wasn’t wandering around your dorm.

Then something hit you. A really unpleasant idea if ever there was one. Sans had gone into your bathroom, the bathroom you haven’t properly scrubbed clean in gods know how long-- two months. three weeks, and five days-- the very same bathroom your hiking clothes, undergarments and all, still contained. Or you hoped by every divine power that they were all still there.

You placed Caroline’s plate down on the counter and tried to look as unhurried as possible on your way to the bathroom shelf. One glance at your discarded clothes and it  _ seemed _ like everything was there. While you didn’t have time to search and be sure now, that’s precisely what you would do later. Instead you huffed silently, doing your damndest not to blush at the awkward situation, and retrieve what you came in here for.

Once out in the main living area, Sans was nowhere to be seen, Care had a confused expression while one hand pressed an unused napkin into her temple in an attempt to stop the bleeding. “Where’d bony butt go?” you dropped onto the couch next to her, uncapping the bottle and applying some fluid to a cotton ball.

“I... I don’t know. Said something about ‘the kid’ calling him then took off... erh if that’s what you call it?”

“Hm?” You picked a simple healing melody that wouldn’t be too noticeable beyond the sting of the hydrogen peroxide and set about mending the wound very carefully.

“Well, his left eye changed, the room got a lot colder, there was this big flash of blue light, and he was just... gone.”

So that’s how he got behind you so fast? You must have missed the light two nights ago when the monsters first emerged. And that might also explain the pulse of magic, like static rippling over your skin, when he was suddenly behind you a little more than an hour ago. Since monsters are so loud, you just crushed your magic sensitivity all the way down while he was here. The spell on your finger tips sparked as your concentration wavered, the green light almost becoming visible to Care. Your questions surrounding Sans hadn’t lessened in the slightest, as though it all worked out too well...

Wait a second. “Care, band-aid.”

“Thanks!” 

You stood and marched your way back to the bathroom, depositing the hydrogen peroxide and cotton before kneeling to sift through your dirty clothes. Bra, tank top, flannel, socks, jeans... “Mother fucker took my panties!”

* * *

 

This had to be the single most idiotic thing he had ever done. What was wrong with him?! Sans, hands buried in his hoodie pockets, hopped a few times before finally short-cutting his way back to Asgore’s place. The human government had set up a pretty large house for the pretty large monster King, said king’s ex, and their quasi-murderous adopted child. Not to mentions the Royal Scientist, the Captain of the royal guard, his brother, and technically himself. Though ‘living’ might be a bit of a stretch for him, all things considered.

The skeleton puffed his way up the stairs, doing his best to go unnoticed, and while Frisk certainly spotted him, the little ambassador made no move to approach. Fine by him. Unlike the others, Sans remembered the genocide runs. All of them. It was hard to believe at first, a kid like Frisk going stone-cold killer and wiping nearly every monster into a dusty grey smudge. Once he figured out the barrier though, everything fell into place. Frisk might have had some magical potential before they fell, but after they were a full blown mage with natural skills far beyond what they should have had.

Who knows how much that magic may, or may not, screw with a person’s head. And speaking of screwing-  _ oh gods, no. stop it sans. just because her human friends call her ‘soul’ doesn’t mean she’s a... not even going to finish that thought. just. no. _

The moster shook his head, trying to fling away his unbalanced throughs. Was this his heat coming early again? And a human, really? It wasn’t like anatomy was going to work in his favor on this one. Immediately a swarm of crude and dirty anatomy based humor descended on his mind, causing him to both flush and flinch. Though your voice immediately echoed in his head, and all those ‘ass’ puns. He knew you were going to yell at him for it, he’d been counting on it,  _ butt _ ass puns? Really?

The monster had no ulterior motive and he’d swear that to his grave. But there was something in the second he touched you that sparked in his bones. The way your soul seared so brightly on that walk down from Ebott; the way you glowed when standing up for another monster against your own kind. Sans would never say it but, gods he could stare at you for hours and never feel it enough. So when you were clipped and closed off around him, it felt like you were doing it on purpose, pressing in the blaze of your own soul to hide something from him. In fact he was sure you were hiding something you didn’t want him to know.

When Sans saw your eyes burn green he was scared. About as scared as any monster would be when confronted by a soul as powerful as yours. On top of that, it felt different from the kid, like this wasn’t something given to you, but a power you had. Sans felt that from you like a constant wave of heat rushing through his bones and clouding his mind. It made his spine tingle with fear and excitement, sending his soul hammering in his ribs, and oh how he  _ hated _ this feeling. But he couldn’t get enough.

The monster got to his room,  _ sans _ the self-sustaining trash tornado, and nearly slammed the door to vent some frustration when a soft fabric brushing against his leg-bones caught his attention. There, resting oh so innocently on his foot, was an undergarment. A very specific undergarment. The monster could only guess at it’s use, seeing he didn’t really have a need for underwear, nor did Alphys or Undyne use similar clothes that he knew of. Your scent on the fabric caught his focus and curiosity held it. He’d honestly forgot that he grabbed it in the first place, only remembering once you went into the bathroom yourself.

Sans knew you would kill him the second you found out, so he made up some half-hearted bs and short-cut right out of there.

The monster sighed, blue staining his skull as he slipped into his room and locked the door.  _ gods this will not end well. _

* * *

“He did what?” Caroline rounded the bathroom door as you gathered you clothes.

“He took my panites.”

“....”

For a long while neither of you spoke, just mutually processing what happened. “I’m going to go tell Stillwater. I’ll probably have my extra curriculars tonight too, so don’t expect me back until late, okay?”

“I’m going to kick his bony ass when next we meet.” Caroline actually growled, a dark look on her face. It startled you. 

Sure, you’d seen her mad before but this was on a different level. Was it her protecting your honor? And if so, you felt proud to have such a friend, yet also terrified for her well being. You had to say something, anything, to get Care to let this go. Crap, crap, crap- “Not unless I do first.”  _ Really? That was the best you could come up with? Really?! Gods, this will not end well. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long and isn't quite as long as the others. I wanted to keep up more but it was a perfect place to end it and I couldn't come up with anything better to keep it going. btw, looking up ass puns is a great way to spend a weekend.


	5. Things Get Worse (Wherein the author makes references to another story she loves)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy. 7k+ words, I know I missed something in the editing. But here we go. The aftermath and things are just not letting up on poor Soul and co. Times look to be getting darker, and while they are just on the horizon, a storm is brewing. A storm with a good bit of romantic intrigue. Soul is starting to put things together, and it's not looking pretty.

“Nighttime is so pretty isn’t it?” The old mage slouched, leaning back against the tree, staring up at the moon through shifting leave as his vision blurred. It was hard to breath, his body rapidly turning cold and mind shutting down. He was exsanguinating slowly, a monster’s sword buried through his chest, holding him upright as the pine’s blood mixed with his own. Harding hacked a cough, thick red beads dripping down his chin. “I suppose this was to be expected in the end, wasn’t it?” He had played god and was now paying for it.

The artificial monster, his creation, gazed down at him with wide, uncaring eyes. It didn’t have a soul with which to feel, only raw magic fueled it. Magic he ripped from the beings of several other monsters. Harding had only just closed his eyes, ready to let go, when his soul was torn free of his body.

It felt like he was being shattered, pulled back together, then shattered once more. By the time it all subsided, and he looked at his hands... They were large, pale, and claw-like. Covered in blood. His vision danced in odd shades, the darker reaches of the boughs clear in grayscale- devoid of color- and magic drifted through the air like mist. There was a body in front of him. The body of an old mage, energy and life finally flowed out into the dewy grass around him. W. D. looked down at the corpse, at his corpse...

He would be hyperventilating was he capable of breathing. In that same moment, he became acutely aware that he was no longer human, and his new body could not fully hold the weight of his soul. W.D. took the corpse for materials and fled the human kingdoms. The next time he met another mage, they would try to kill him.

Private Journal of W.D. ⅁ɐƧʇƎЯ

* * *

When had you fallen asleep again? Your head peeled off the sheets with a pathetic moan... Gods your hips were sore. Wait. This isn’t your room. You should be alert, hyperaware with a chill of dread clawing through your being, but you aren’t. Why? Why the fuck aren’t you freaking out?! Body what the hell?!

It took a second for you to fully grasp hold of your senses and you sat up. Or tried to anyway. There was an arm around your waist, toned and well muscled. A tattoo ran from the mid forearm to the juncture of a well defined shoulder and presumable from there onto whoever’s back the arm belonged to. Not having a face to look at- your neck isn’t that flexible- the rational side of you sets about memorizing every detail of the ink. It looked like a serpent swallowing a star. The snake itself was solid black with a golden eye, the forked tongue wrapped forward as if to trap the eight pointed star. The points were staggered so that the four cardinal directions were longer and more prominent, though the image seemed to shift the more you stared at it, like an old game flipping back and forth between two images, trying to get the effect of a shimmering light. The world seemed to fade and warp oddly around it.

With the star burned into your eyes, Care shook you into alertness. “Girl, are you okay? I know that skeleman was a bit weird but don’t go all dead eyed like that. It’s really creepy.”

“Hu?” It took a couple of seconds for you to process what just happened. W-was that a vision? You were sitting on your couch with a glass of wine, half empty. Care had pulled a bottle for you to share from her secret hiding spot to try and loosen you both up and chill out. Sans... fucking stole your panties for some reason and can apparently teleport- Oh gods, that’s why you’re drinking! You took another sip then cringed, not fully prepared for the burn of alcohol in your mouth. Ugh. You also remembered why you stuck to the lighter, fruitier beverages.

A shudder tickled up your back as that warm feeling finally kicked in. This day... not even fully evening and you were about ready to call it. Good gods, this fucking day. You sink into your seat further, glancing over to Caroline as she texted someone. Judging by the conflicted notes in her soul, it was Jack.

“Were you guys gonna netflix and chill tonight?” You put your glass down, not wanting to tempt anymore of... whatever that  _ thing _ was into happening again.

“Yeah. I’d be staying in his apartment tonight if I thought leaving you here alone was at all safe. But seeing as short, punny, and pervy can port his skele-butt whereever, I didn’t think you should be alone.” Sometimes, you could swear she took more after her grandmother than anyone else in the family. No way she could contain this much sass otherwise.

A soft smile broke your face at the notion that Care was going out of her way to protect you. “Thanks, but I don’t feel good about you being here either-” that and you were a mage who could handle yourself, though having backup would be a godsend, “- and if that’s the case, I could probably pester Cols or Ming to letting me stay the night. I’m pretty sure Ming commutes, so he actually has a house, and Colin’s roommate is never around so...” 

Caroline looked you up and down with a slowly raising brow. “Neither of those sound like the best option to be honest.” A smile twitched at the corner of her lips, that devilish kind of grin you knew all too well. “I don’t think you told me much about this ‘Ming’ guy. He handsome?” Her other brow had shot up at this point, leaning in slightly as she wiggled them.

“Oh my gods, no! You are not setting me up on a date! Not today.”

“Oh come one, smolls!” She dropped her phone on the table, tackling you in a hug to keep you from running away. “You need to get out of your cave more. I know you like people, I’ve seen the way you look at some of ‘em. Y’know, I think you’re just scared of commitment.”

It was very difficult to refute anything she said around your laughter. Care’s chin digging into your ticklish side had you squirming and trying not to snort. “C-care. No!” You did manage to break her grip and shoot off the couch before she could grab you, but hey, she got you laughing and that was the point.... You did feel a bit better.... Gods knew you needed to unwind, maybe getting a significant other wouldn’t be so bad? Even if you knew it was doomed, melodies can shift by what other ones are around them... maybe... Maybe Care was right. She’s proven herself an expert on you in the past. Your high school sweetheart, it may have worked out if you’d tried harder? Or maybe if you found him again there could be something there...

You poured yourself a glass of water and shook your head. No, the romance with him had died, your song was too light to meld well with any of the girls you knew so that could only end in disaster or mutual disinterest... “Okay... I’ll try the whole ‘dating’ thing, but I’m not going to tie down unless I’m sure it’ll be worth it.”

“See,” she had shifted back into a seated position, sprawling over the whole couch, “afraid of commitment. Did Mr Apathy really ruin relationships for you?”

“No, no. We just.... never clicked, y’know. And I’m looking for my ‘one’, not just any old fling.”

Caroline pulled her arm up on the back of the couch to stare at you in puzzlement. “How can you find your ‘one’ by not actively searching for them?”

“... Touche.”  You paused, staring at your phone. The options were before you, you just had to make a choice. Caroline seemed to sense you spacing out and turned back around to fully face you. The fact remained that you were spacing out, too lost in thought to register her waving a hand at you.

You have known Cols for years, even spent the night at his place before, so asking him short notice wouldn’t be too strange if not a little alarming. But... he wasn’t a great fighter and while you wanted to trust that Sans wouldn’t do anything, you couldn’t shake that frightening vibe he gave you. It was... It was like he could kill you if he really wanted to, and it would be easy. You shuddered, blinking the image of his burning cyan eye out of your head. The first swallow of water hurt with how your throat had constricted.

“Are you okay?” Care had gotten up from the sofa, lingering at the edge of the kitchen with her lower lip in her teeth. Your eyes snapped up to Caroline’s face, brows creased in concern and her icy blue gaze fixed on your face.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.” You polished off the glass of water and placed the cup in the sink. You gave her a slight hug, walking past Care. Your feet carried you back to your room and you began to pull various school books together. Whether you were staying with Ming or Colin, you still had school work to do. At least with one of them, you could turn it into a magical studies sleep over.

That brought you back to considering your options more heavily. Ming and you would definitely be able to fight off one attacker if you had to, but you really didn’t know him  _ that _ well. Sure you saw his soul, and he saw yours, but it wasn’t like you really  _ knew _ him. Your face flushed slightly at the memory of his focused expression and how he’d stared at your soul, mystified. No, no, you didn’t know his well at all. It was just like how you saw Jack naked during the incident and you didn’t know anything past what you heard from his melody, and what Caroline had told you.

Your blush deepened in second-hand embarrassment thinking about that night. It soured the drink you just took and your stomach shuddered. Nope. Stop thinking about it! No, no no no.

Shoving your books into your messenger bag with a bit too much force you pulled your train of thought back onto today. Today... both of them put so much faith in you. Today you had to really measure their ideals against your own. Today... you still don’t have an answer. Distrust doesn’t mean safely but blind faith can snap back on you so easily. It wasn’t an easy question to answer, but even knowing the final decision rested with the council, your voice would hold sway in that meeting. _You_. Your decision would directly impact the _entire_ _magical community_ \- no the entire _world_! What do you choose? ... What _could_ you choose?

As your gaze ran over the shelves and you found yourself face to face with a journal your mother gave you a calm spread through your quaking shoulders. She wrote down songs in it since she was your age or a little younger. Her dreams permeated the pages, but it was only halfway filled. She’d given it to you when you graduated high school so you could write your own soul into its pages. A kind of spiritual connection with her no matter how far removed you were by time or space. The memories brushed against your tense body, laxing you with the scent of maple leaves and old books.

Very gently, you lifted the book more aged than yourself from the shelf, feeling the worn sides where your mother’s hands had created small, barely noticable dimples in the backing. Your mind filled with the image of those smooth, strong arms around your shoulders, holding you close in a warm embrace. You missed her more than you realized. 

You turned through the pages, watching as her script evolved over many years until you reached the very last page on which her ink stained letters. It was a very simple spell, one you never even realized was a spell until now. A charm really. “For she who rights her dreams down will have a map to follow...” It wasn’t so much the words that made it a spell, it was the language it was written in. You had started learning it the end of Sophomore year in Treatises of Spoken Spellcraft. Old,  _ old _ writings were done in this script. It was used to enchant objects with a specific purpose. Magic was mostly enchantment in those days.

THe excitement of discovery sparked in your chest as your eyes devoured the text. Know roughly how the charm might work, you quickly took up a pen and on the adjacent page wrote in swirling letters, ‘I dream of a future where I can be myself, without fear of human or monster reviling me.’ You took a breath, waiting for something to happen, just waiting... As the seconds slid by and there was nothing a pang of despair stabbed your heart. Of course it wouldn’t be that easy... May it was a compound spell, you had to start small or it would never work, but the more goals you achieved, the more powerful the spell would become. You leaned over to mark out the ink when the book shuddered and glowed. 

Startled, you staggered back, dropping the pen and just barely stopping yourself for making a sound, painfully aware you were messing with magic with Caroline in the other room. Beneath your writing was a very different script. “Don’t trust him.” You murmured the phrase, squinting at the pages. That was it? Don’t trust him? That was the least helpful thing you’ve ever read! A little bit annoyed, and damn well determined to figure out how the spellwork was actually crafted, you shoved the journal in your bag as well. Lastly, you pulled your handkerchief off the desk, staring at the hand stitched fabric a while longer before looping it around to rest over your collarbone. 

With a bit more attention to your appearance than you might otherwise give, you picked out a jacket that already weant with what you were wearing, opting for a forest green long sleeve shirt over a lace-lined lime green undershirt and simple jenes. The jacket was a darker blue with lighter reflective strips to them. You tugged on your striped spearmint green kneesocks and a pair of white winter boots.

Satisfied that you were just casual enough while still looking nice, you tossed fingers through your hair, watching at it fan out before falling in a more windswept, ‘I couldn’t give a fuck how I look’ way while still being somewhat nice. You did not envy Caroline’s hair; not having to spend hours fighting it on a daily basis just to not have a bed head was great.

With a more confident sway in your step, you slung the bag over your shoulder, collected you phone, ID, and keys, then headed out to the main room. “You go hang with your man, Care. I’ll be fine. Enjoy yourself.” Maybe it was the alcohol talking, but you really didn’t mind this so much. Your mind finally hit that ever so slightly fuzzy state where you weren’t drunk or even tipsy, but you inhibitions were dampened. You felt.... confident, empowered; maybe this kick in the rear was what you needed.

Yeah! Y’know what? The world could fuck off! Throwing impossible bull shit problems at you all the time. Expecting you to know the answers! Ha! You had a smile on your face that must have reached your eyes. If you were paying closer attention you would have noticed the slight blush on Care’s face.

You swept out of the room, feeling the chilly bite in the air with a smile still radiating from your eyes. The boys’ phones were both in you contacts so you just group texted them both, asking if either one wouldn’t mind letting you hang out and pull an all nighter with them. You also included that you would be in The Library in case something happened.

Tucking your phone into your jeans pocket, you moter across campus, not really rushing, but taking in as much air and wind as you could with the sun setting earlier each day. The worn stone steps felt surprisingly nice underfoot, each divot a reminder of the number of people that have walked between the towering rows of knowledge. Oh, you kinda forgot to turn your phone on silent. Should probably do that. The very second you did that, your phone popped up a notification. Some unknown number was trying to call you.

For a second you kinda stood there, almost tempted to pick up, but you decided better of it and shoved your phone back into your pocket, walking fully into the mage-only section hidden in the very back of the building. The crackling of the flames calmed you down a little; finding a tabled to work at, you set out some school-work and left your phone right-side up so that you could see the screen whenever it lit up with a new notice. Cols got back to you first, saying he would if his roommate left to go clubbing again around seven. He’d let you know through the chat if Ming didn’t ‘swoop in to save you’ first.

You kinda smiled at the banter and shot him a return, playfully making light of your situation.

Good news, you finished your calculus work; bad news you were super dead right now. You really didn’t want to do more work, though you had to. Part of being an adult. You checked the time and kind of gapped. “Yikes.” There were several rather lewd thing posted from Colin’s phone along with a selfie of someone definitely not Colin. For starters she was a vivacious blonde with her cleavage practically popping out the top of the skimpy shirt barely covering her bra. You waited a couple seconds longer after the last message seemed to be something cut off and garbled. 

“Oh my gods guys. I’m sorry. Roomass is already smashed as shit and he stole my phone when his (also drunk gf) tried to kiss me.” 

Well that explains the selfie. “How long did it take for you to get it back?” You fingers flicked over the screen, only half paying attention to spelling as your phone auto corrected your slight impairment. You made sure to give it a hard read before sending it just in case.

“Oh, pretty much the whole time. Took him long enough to guess the password. Wasn’t worried until then. Brb. Gotta change it.”

“Okay.” You were about to put the phone down when a message from Ming dinged into the chat.

“Sorry guys. Was in a meeting. What’s up?” A few seconds later, “Aside from drunk roommates.”

“Soul needs a place to crash for the night.” Colin typed out with a long pause and both boys sent something along the lines of ‘What?’ as he seemed to realize what he just said.

“Wait, Soul,” Ming’s message started out, “why do you need to stay over with one of us.”

“Well... We can’t stay in my place and I need some more time, preferably during the day when Judge is busy and Care is MIA, to put some basic alarms and wards up. He can teleport btws.”

“What did he do?” came the instant response from Ming. You could just hear the anger coming from the text. This was the warrior spirit after all, demanding the protection of his allies.

Colin seemed to be a bit hesitant, his cursor showing he’d been typing for a while, but the message itself being short. “Are you okay? Do you need us to come get you?”

... Were you okay? Really? With the small bit of alcohol already burning out of your system you were left to think more clearly about your situation. “I’m not sure? I don’t think I’m in any real danger. I just don’t want to be there... Not tonight.”

Ming and Colin both responded more or less at the same time. Both were apologetic negatives, that you couldn’t stay with either of them. You swallowed and tried to fake a laugh for yourself. “Do you think Stillwater or Wiessner would mind if I slept in The Library tonight?”

“... I know a place you might be able to stay, but you’d have to trust me on this. We can all go there and you can meet the guy who runs it. If you don’t like it, we can leave.” Ming responded, clearly as unnerved as you but not wanting you to be somewhere unfamiliar or ‘public’. The Library might be a hidden, mage only location, but that didn’t mean you were entirely safe to just  _ sleep _ there. Not all mages were the best people. That’s true of every group though. Sans seemed to prove it was true for monsters too, at least in part. Still, you swallowed past your nervousness. “Okay. Colin can meet me at TL and you can pick us up?”

“Sure, smolls.”

“Anything for you, Soul.” You blinked at Ming’s message. That was a little weird.

Colin said something about being there in a few minutes, as did the warrior. You tucked your phone back into your pocket, mulling over everything. The question of what to do came back into your mind, as did the cryptic message in your mother’s journal.

Deciding that you really did need to figure it out, you pulled the old book out of your bag, cradling each page as you turned it, The yellowed parchment gave way to those bold black words underneath your script. “Don’t trust him.” You murmured those words over and over again under your breath. Who was him and why did this book feel the need to play the pronoun game? Was it talking about Sans? The man Ming was going to introduce?

You stared at those words, then pulled out a pen. The point hovered over the page, twitching with the throb of your heartbeat. Just as you had been about to write, the words left you. Cold and alone and afraid. Confused, lost, and in need of guidance. You couldn’t even ask for help because you couldn’t find the words. Ha! Imagine that! A bard that couldn’t find the words.  _ You aren’t good enough. You’ll  _ **_never_ ** _ be good enough _ .

“Shut up!” You snap at the air, throwing the pen down and rising to your feet. The chair gave a loud protest as it struck the ground. With a rush of embarrassment, you recalled where you were, looking up and around. No one was there. No sound but the snapping fire. No other soul but you. You were entirely alone.

With a deep breath, you moved to the centre of the room, magic pulsing up your arms and out your eyes and throat. It needed to get out. You had needed to get these feelings out all day and not had any time to do it. Well, no time like the present.

You sang, you sang until your voice could express just how you felt. Then you pulled it all in, all the emotions swirling around beneath your skin and you pushed it out with one powerful note. The shelves rattled, books fell to the ground, and the flames flickered to the point of nearly dying. You were also pretty sure dust had fallen from the ceiling and you weren’t entirely sure if you’d unintentionally rocked the building. Oops. The green light storm swirled and faded and left your legs shaky.

Still. That felt good, but it left you empty. You returned to the book, staring at the page once again. ‘Be careful what you wish for’, as cliched and tired as it sounded, truly applied to this book. Any dream, no matter how pure, can be twisted by the aims of others.

“I dream...” The pen rested in your open palm, waiting for you to turn it to the page. Your whisper caused it to shudder with a green light. “I dream....” Having no other thought but those words and an empty heart you let go of trying to force something out, leaning back on your heels and sang. “A dream is a wish your heart makes....” Half way through the song it struck you what this dream needed. 

It needed help.

You really aren’t good enough. You have flaws, everyone has flaws. What you really need is someone who compliments your flaws with their successes. What you need is someone to listen and really  _ know _ you. Know you beyond the surface, beyond the friendships and teasing. You need someone who can call you out on your bull shit but still be there through every wrong turn. You need.... You need your ‘one’.  _ Who _ you need is someone that can make your sould really sing. Your soulmate... The one to fix all the scattered puzzle pieces of your heart with theirs and have all the corners match up.

Half of you wanted to scoff at the childish notion while the other half screamed “Yes! Finally!” Your empathetic, aching soul would have someone to listen to it as intently as you listened to others.

You picked up the pen and wrote. “I dream to find my ‘one’. The soul of my soul. I dream of loving them and being loved in return.” You put the pen down and took a step back. Holding your breath. Just as before, the book shuddered and glowed. You tried not to get your hopes up.

“Knock. Knock.”

That breath slid out of your teeth somewhat bitterly. “Who’s there.” You picked up the journal, placing it back in your bag with other school books. Your phone screen lit up against your thigh. Colin was here and Ming was a minute away. You slung the bag over your shoulders, unaware that your words had been taken by the book, empowered by the charm, and sent to that someone like a kiss in the moonlight.

Colin waited on the steps for you, this beanpole figure replete with loose fitting hoodie hang slightly off on shoulder and the muted glow from his phone screen illuminating the thin roman nose and pale lips. His shock of orange hair could have almost been glowing with how the distant lights from the other buildings just managed to crawl its way over. The sun had already gone down, leaving him out of the setting sky hues and in the cold inky midnight-blue. You reached your friend with a soft sigh, cupping his free hand in yours.

He flicked his eyes up to your face, studying you like so many of his architectural sculptures. You knew Colin was trying to find the imbalance in your expression. Pinpoint the signs of distress. Sometimes you forget how tall he is. You just squeeze his hand and smile. He nods. Nothing more is needed between you.

You walked in stride with him to the circular lot by the front of the school. Ming had rolled down the driver’s side window and leaned out of his old black jaguar, scanning for you. Seeing Colin a bit before you, he ducked back in and pulled it out of park, rolling up to you. Colin took the front, he needed the legroom, and you slid in behind Ming, buckling up and leaning forward to rest your head against the back of his seat. None of you said anything as Ming left the school behind.

It struck you that you hadn’t been to downtown in a long while. Freshman year at least. Leaning back you turned to press your forehead against the icy window, staring listlessly at passing shops that had once been closing businesses or unoccupied spaces up for rent. You saw monsters making arrangements to move into these buildings. Some already being renovated with large ‘MTT’ signs posted up in front of them along with what you could only describe as a calculator on wheels. Or...  _ a _ wheel. That was good at least. Locals had accepted the monsters pretty quickly and most of them hung around the mountain or downtown. Or that’s how it seemed. You really didn’t know just how many of them there were. But... 

The more you thought about it, monsters were a drop in an ocean of humans. The mages were the same way too. One one-thousandth of the global population. It was a lot of people. but compared to the whole writhing mass of humanity that spent their days crawling through the muck, scrambling for a higher perch on the earth’s back... 

It didn’t inspire much hope for change.

Two drops against the ocean was still just two drops. What can one person do if there is no one to aide them? What is one drop in the current? Not even a disturbance. Only when the water is still will you see the ripples. This world is nothing if not turbulent.

“Soul?” The silence was finally broken by Colin, his gaze fixed nervously upon you.

Though you still leaned against the door, you turned to look at him. You could see Ming glancing at you from the rear view mirror. “Yeah? Sorry. I was spacing out there.”

“Ming said we’re almost there.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks guys. I’m sorry for worrying you.”

Your driver huffed, pulling up to a smooth stop when the light turned red. A few other cars on the road cast Ming in a red glow when he turned to really face you. “We’re allowed to worry about you, Soul.”

A smile marked your face and your soul warmed a bit. “Thank you.”

The light turned green as he returned his gaze to the road. You reached out to Colin who was still giving you a nervous and scrutinizing stare. His hand closed around yours, but the orange lights against his face drew your attention to the most put together monster establishment you’d seen. You knew it was a monster bar by the patrons walking in and out, that and all those monsters in one place was very loud. All three of you seemed to notice, but while it only mildly bothered the others, you physically winced. A bright neon sign declared the place “Grillby’s” and you made a mental note to check it out at some point.

It was maybe five more minutes drive from Grillby’s that the three of you arrived. At first the place seemed no more than a old motel, ratty and worn by years and years of business. Like many businesses operating at night, it had a neon sign of its own. “Ebott Inn.” Ming pulled up to the front office and parked, turning to look at Cols and you each. “So... we’re here. Do you guys want to come in with me or stay in the car?”

“I didn’t think you were talking about a motel, Ming.” You were immediately worried for the expence. While it was probably cheaper than dinner at a bar, you still didn’t feel great about having to spend the night here. Something felt off about this place, though for the life of you it was impossible to place.

“N-no. I’m friends with the owner.” He seemed to take your meaning with a kind yet embarrassed glance. “They have a cottage next door with overflow housing in the holidays. Back when I was a kid they let me stay a night or two there.”

“O-oh.”

Colin stared out the window in the direction of the cottage. The white paint looked fresh compared to the rest of the motel and there were no lights on. His eyes narrowed slightly. “Is it possible for multiple people to stay there?”

Ming gave him a wry smile. “We were both thinking the same thing, hu?”

“Eh, probably?”

You looked back and forth between them, noting how lined up their melodies were. Though they didn’t ‘sound great’ together like Jack and Caroline did, it was a simple ‘on the same page’ kind of pattern. Slowly you raised a bro at them in silent question.

“Well, I’ve been having problems in my manifestation classes, and bards are taking even more rigorous courses at this point in the curriculum. I was hoping you’d help me study.” Ming said, a veritable shit-eating grin on his face. 

Colin also beamed, eyes shimmering in a way that you  _ knew _ was trouble. “Oh yeah! And I can’t wait to practice my tag-team barrier spell. Thing is, I need another priest or a bard for it or the spell won’t work.”

“Guys...” You were torn between flustered excuses and genuine relief. It was a weird feeling that twisted your stomach into knots and rushed heat through your face. With a final sigh, you popped off the seatbelt and leaned forward to wrap both boys in a tight hug. “Thank you.”

With a tight laugh, Colin and Ming pulled back, both seemed a bit flushed and they were avoiding looking you in the eyes. While you could only guess what that was about, you did know that the sooner the three of you get arrangements for tonight sorted, the sooner you can eat. In retrospect, alcohol sans food was a bad idea. You sprung out of the car with a stretch and Ming followed. Colin leaned over the car’s back giving you a cheshire grin. “Guess we can finally watch that sleep-over movie I’ve been hinting at for a month.”

There was a jolt of excitement that tingled up your back at how he said that... Oh good gods, that was a strange feeling. You whipped around to face Cols with a grin of your own. “Or, and here me out on this one, we could  _ actually _ study.” Ming shooed you away from the car so he could close the doors and lock it. With Colin and you bantering back and forth about the merits of relaxation instead of work, your valiant warrior lead the way into the motel office. 

The man sitting at the desk immediately stalled your smiling conversation. He wasn’t anything physically intimidating, or even that he was pale as death and dressed like a goth rocker on a day off, but a little voice in the back of your head started screaming at you to just leave. Ming seemed on edge too, giving the man a sideways look as he walked past to the manager’s office. “Ah, you guys stay here. I’ll get Thoe and we’ll talk things over, yeah?”

“Sure.” Colin said, his monotone going even flatter as he shifted a little closer to you, standing firmly between the deakman and you. Wait, hang on! You are a bard. When the warrior isn’t around it’s your job to protect the priest, not the other way around! Any attempt at protest were silenced when you met Colin’s eyes. 

The man behind the counter spoke up. “So, yer Ming’s friends? Didn’t peg him as teh kind a’ that’d make too many a’ those. What kinda magic ya got?”

Your blood went icy cold as Cols body stiffened like a board. His face, which was still turned toward you was frozen in disbelief and shock. Deciding to use your talents, you peeked around his chest to address the man. “W-what are you talking about?”

“I ain’t stupid, girly. I know yer mages, kids stink of old blood. The good ol’ magical families that’ve been sitting on top of the magical world for millennia. I’m a jack m’self. You?” The way his rat-like face fixed on you made your soul clench. There was something very wrong with him. 

“B-bard.” You swallowed your fear and took a deep breath. If can handle Sans, you can handle this. A sudden calm washed over you, letting out a breath and letting your souls decompress so your magic sparkled in your eyes and seemed to glow through your skin. “Who are you?”

He sneered even as Colin tried to pull you back behind him with a hand on your shoulder. “Tha name’s Karn. Tullus Karn.” The rat-man turned the pages of the sign in book, pulling a small hunting knife hidden between the pages and sliding back into a holder on his belt. “Ya kids old enough ta drink?”

“...Yes.” Colin finally let go of trying to get you behind him, and moved up to stand at your side.

“Well, if ya ain’t had nothing to eat yet, there’s a nice joint a block away called Viper’s Den. It’s got a special backroom for folk like us. Hheh,” he hissed a laugh, running a hand through his greasy black hair and leering at you, “nice ta see young people so invested in the study a’ magic.”

Before you could respond the back door flew open and a large, rotund man with shiny light brown hair and spectacles rushed out to shake your hand. Emphatically switching between yours and Colin’s “Nice to meet you! Oh, very nice to meet you! Exemplary, splendid, wondiferous!” He reminded you of those old stories your mother used to read you. The wonderful wizard of Oz, only more portly... and taller.

Ming slipped through the narrow space between the large man’s side and the office wall. He took a position to your other side, subtly wrapping his fingers around yours. You glanced down at your hand before following the warrior's line of sight to Tullus’ smirking face. Oh. Ming pried his gaze back to who you assumed was Theo. He cleared his throat, giving the man a raised brow.

“Hmm? Oh. OH! Pardon me! Thousand apologies, yes, truly regretful. My name is Theo Browne. I am the preporator of this fine establishment.” He made a sound between clearing his throat and coughing. “Yes. Splendiferous!”

You and Colin looked at Ming who started back, flushed in embarrassment. Theo... he sounded like a mage to you as well, though his melody was not so sickly and nauseating as Tullus. Taking a breath you turned to look at the walrus of a man. “A-are we... um. C-can we sta-”

“Stay the night?!” Theo seemed to positively glow at the mention. “Oh. OH! In the cottage of course. Wouldn’t do to put our Ming and his friends up in the regular rooms! No, no! No trouble at all, dear girl! Free of charge! Free of charge!”

Tullus rolled his eyes at the blusterous manager. Colin sighed in relief, substantially less on edge now that Theo was here. “Thank you Mr. Browne.”

“My dear boy! Mr Browne is my father, please, call me Theo!” He tapped through his suit pockets, pulling out a set of three keys, handing one to each of you in turn. “Don’t go losing those now! You’ll have the room for two days, free of charge!” Theo tucked his hands in the folds of his suit, looking very proud of himself. 

“Thanks, Theo.” Ming spun the key around his pointer finger, sliding his other fingers between your fingers to compress your palms together. Your face betrayed you, flushing slightly. “We’re gonna hit up a place for dinner then swing back okay. Take care of Betty for me.” 

Theo nodded and your party turned and left. Ming didn’t let go of your hand though. Colin noticed the hand hold, frowning a bit. With a huff like one might expect from a pouting child, your longer time friend plucked the key from you hand, slid into your back jeans pocket and took your other hand in his.

_ Um! Um what!? _ Sure that hadn’t been the first time that Colin had put something in your pocket, or took something out for that matter, but he- Wait, what? What were you thinking? This behavior was normal for him... you just didn’t pay it much mind before... Then, Ming? Ming could be like that too, you guessed. It’s just he was newer so you noticed it more. T-then. Hold on. What?

As your mind set about trying to figure out what was going on with them, your feet carried you through the streets, your grip on their hands tightening. Whatever they might have done to try to steer you or not went unnoticed as you took the lead. By the time you finally realized where you were, the sound of many monster souls broke through your focus causing you to flinch. Grillby’s stood directly in front of the three of you. You stared at the establishment in a general wonderment at how and  _ why _ this was where you wound up.

Ming and Colin seemed to misunderstand your confusion as awe. They looked at each other over your head, shrugged and pulled you inside while your mind still staggered. Colin held the door open for you all, closing it as Ming took your jacket to hang with a large number of them dangling from a long wall of coats. Blinking and blushing you saw Colin shrug his hoodie up, sinking into slightly, while Ming took off his coat. The warrior was only wearing a simple black t-shirt and jeans. You could just make out the hint of a star and a snake’s tongue branded on his arm just beneath the sleeve... H-hold up... Um, you had seen that before. T-that was...

A whine  _ very _ close to your ear distracted you from contemplating the meaning of that tattoo. The source: a behemoth of a dog monster in full armor leaning over your shoulder, sniffing you. Colin paled and Ming stiffened. 

“U-um high there? I-is it okay for us to eat here?” You turned around very slowly, aware that most of the patrons were staring at you three. You were literally the only humans here. The bartender- a greater hearth elemental by the look of it- popped warmly, gesturing to the barstools in front of him. Taking his meaning, you pulled Colin and Ming away from the entrance and the curious dog monster. Each of you sat on the orange-y plush stools. They were oddly comfortable and you propped your elbows on the smoothed, polished wood. A bunny monster laid face down two seats to your right. Most of this stuff seemed old, well worn in some cases, from the jukebox to the tables. It crossed your mind that they might be transplanted from the underground which would explain why the bar got put together so fast. It would also explain why they seats you were on seemed new than the few others around.

Colin pressed against your side lightly, pointing at a chalk board hanging from the ceiling with any food that might be prepared. After a day like this, you could go for a burger. Colin got fries and Ming asked for a corndog. The elemental nodded, making a gesture towards the drinks on the back wall. The thought of consuming more alcohol had your stomach twisting a bit, but when you asked for water, the monster’s soul seemed to shudder and you quickly apologized. Of course a  _ fire _ monster wouldn’t serve  _ water _ ! Jeeze.

Ming, ever the bold man, asked for the Hotland Special, whatever that meant. While Colin went for a good old fashioned ‘sex on the beach’. Both you and Ming looked at him with raised eyebrows. “What? I don’t like to drink that much and it tastes pretty good.” Thankfully the bartender, though a bit flustered at first, realized it was the name of a human drink. You ordered a bloody mary, though not entirely sure why, you just were in the mood for it? Maybe?

With a bit of a wait, you had your food, and your drinks, laughing and actually feeling at ease with Colin and Ming on either side of you. You had almost forgot all the horrible that today had, just enjoying being with your friends, when the bar door swung open and a loud cheer erupted from the monsters around you: “Heya, Sansy!” You. Fucking. Froze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr: warcraftedtardis.tumblr.com  
> Patreon: patreon.com/angieofthewarcraftedtardis
> 
> ((I would like to put out there that if anyone feels like drawing anything from this story, they have my blessing. And following that I WANT SEEEEE~!!!))
> 
> the other work referenced is TST's fic Chill or Be Chilled. 10/10 would recommend.  
> Also song is from Disney's Cinderella.


	6. Rattlebones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this took a long time to finally get done, clocking in at about 8k words. I do have a beta now (Love you RTNightmare) who is going to help me churn out high quality work faster, Lord willing xD.
> 
> Most of this chap is Sans POV with some delicious drama in the works.

 

Sans lay on his sheetless bed, staring up at the newly painted ceiling. Everytime he tried to think of something,  _ anything, _ else, you were there instead. It was beyond frustrating. With a grunt, the monster rolled onto his side; between himself and the wall were the undergarments he’d unintentionally stolen... Oh gods, you must  _ hate _ him now! The monster ground his molars together and covered his face with his pillow. He slowly lifted the soft fabric off his skull, gazing at the panties, your scent permeating his every breath.

Tentatively, Sans picked them up and shifted into a seated position, crossing his legs and letting the pillow slough off into his lap. It wasn’t a very ‘cute’ piece of clothing, not that it needed to be. Humans wore them for a reason, so the simple, solid colored fabric was just soft enough to not be irritating. It was the color of green that got his face to light up like a fog lamp. You managed to pick the exact same shade as your soul. 

He dropped it the second that thought crossed his mind, pushing the offending object back toward the wall and pulling the strings of his hoodie to hide his face. Sans was screaming internally, and maybe groaning out loud? He wasn’t entirely sure.

The monster sprung off his bed, not caring about the pillow flopping onto the floor, and set to pacing. Your voice drifted through his mind despite the steady murmuring of metaphysical principles tumbling from behind his teeth. The puns you’d thrown at him rattling around in his skull nonstop; his actions prompting that unnervingly out of character. How you smiled when Caroline pinched your cheeks, how you shined so brightly that he feared he’d be blinded. Even from your first meeting, when he’d teleported so close that your warm, sweet scent nearly knocked him off his feet. Then you were so confident and in your element, and when you sang- gods, when you sang, he just wanted to-

_ no! stop it! _ He shook his head violently, trying to physically dislodge those thoughts from his cranium and launch them out his eye sockets, adding to the impossible mess already in his room. There they would be lost and irretrievable, and he could  _ just think about something else _ .

Sans snarled in aggravation, slowly turning around to face your underwear sitting oh-so-innocently on his bed, a lingering reminder of what he was trying not to focus on. He should return it. T-that would be the right thing to do. Shuffling forward again, he reached out to pick it up then froze, zygomatic bone twitching. Gods, he’s hopeless.

The skeleton let his hand fall to his side with a defeated huff and dropped onto the grounded pillow. He dragged his arms around under the pillow and focused on forcing himself to sleep. At least asleep he didn’t have to keep running in circles like this. Some of his best thinking happened while he was asleep. Things hurt less.... that.... way.

Sans’ eye sockets slid closed, the last coherent thought a question. ‘Why did thinking you hate him hurt so much?’

... Wait.

He shot up into a seated position, gasping, hands fisted in the fabric beneath them.  _ oh stars! oh fu-! _ “ _ Who’s there _ .” 

A shudder ran up his spine at the sound of your voice so cold and devoid of feeling. It was like you were whispering in his -metaphorical- ear, the brush of your lips on the side of his skull. The monster swallowed thickly, eyes bouncing around wildly seeking the source of your voice. He just froze up, heat burning through his bones and a tremor rattling his ribs. The pressure of magic in his marrow just needing to  _ go somewhere _ was damn near overwhelming.

“SANS!”

He jumped, falling back onto his tailbone with a grunt. “y-yeah, bro?” Did... did he just fucking stutter? Ohhh gods. Papyrus pushed open his door and he winced at the bright hall light stabbing his eyes.

“ASGORE’S CLONE WANTS TO TALK WITH YOU ABOUT THE HUMAN’S SCIENCE WORK!”

“ah, okay bro.” Sans stood up, focused on not letting his blush show. “an’ her name is toriel, paps. she ain’t a clone.”

“Ah.... Sans.... Were You Sleeping On The Ground?”

He flinched, shifting over slightly to hide your panties from his brother. Papyrus may seem innocent and excitable, but he wasn’t totally naive. “heh. sorry had a dream that kinda  _ floored _ me.” He added a wink to help his grin. Papyrus shrieked as always, storming off into the house to complain to Undyne. Sans slipped out of his room, closing the door and locking it with a flick of his fingers. He ran his hand down the smooth stair rail, letting it brush away the sensation of cloth that lingered in the back of his mind.

By the time he got to the bottom, Undyne and Papyrus had charged out into the yard to help Alphys with something, or maybe they were going to spar, who knows really. The living room still had the lights on and the vestiges of Alphy’s game console that had been mostly put away. Seemed like play time got interrupted by something. Now the TV flickered with the figure of some celebrity making grandiose statements about how people are people. Sans had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at the good talk they were putting on. He’d believe in the change when there was tangible evidence of it. 

Though your roommate was thrilled to bits at meeting him. Maybe that was his proof. But then again, Ebott and the residence thereof were a weird phenomena. It was almost creepy how fast they had accepted the monsters’ existence, and while there were certainly some that were hostile, most humans were generally neutral to them, if not downright pleasant. He hadn’t expected this, not with how nervous Frisk was in the underground. And speak of the devil, the kid shot around the dinning room arch and right into him.

The skeleton didn’t realize how tense he was until Frisk latched their arms around him. Normally he’d  _ get _ tense, but when the rigor of his spine didn’t change, Sans mentally groaned. “heh. nice ta see you, too, kiddo. so, school work?”

Frisk smiled at him and nodded, marching back into the dining room with a spring in their step. Tori was cooking dinner, keeping an eye on everyone in the house from her perch in the kitchen. Heh. Asgore may be King, but Tori runs the show. She nodded to Sans with a warm smile. The skeleton nodded back.

Sans shuffled over to the dining room table, hopping up onto the chair side saddle -Toriel to his back- with his head resting on an upturned fist. Frisk sat across from him, and the skeleton helped them a little every time they got stuck with his trademark vague hints. Mostly, he just listened to them talking about school and how amazing it was that they and Monster Kid were pretty much accepted right off the bat. If the kids were left alone during recess, most would be curious as opposed to hateful, though that wasn’t true for all of them.

Sans found himself cycling back to his previous line of thinking during the lulls in questions. While you still invaded his thoughts, there was a wider purview of subjects related to you that drummed at the interior of his cranium.

Ebott seemed to be the most fitting place for monsters, sure. National news bred fear and hate, but this little town was different, or mostly different, at least. Maybe it’s the culture instilled in them. Monsters were local legend before they were confirmed as real; there was even a special celebration here on October 30 th , simply called The Festival. His kind were tradition for the humans of Ebott. It was easier for them to accept King Asgore and his people as reality. But... if that’s the case then... Where did the mages go? Surely a group of humans that powerful wouldn’t just disappear.

It was worrying.

His gaze flicked over to the news Toriel had running on the living room TV again. More reruns of the conference. Asgore in his armor, the most formal wear he actually had, speaking to several world leaders. King Fluffybun’s stoic expression was betrayed by the fear glimmering in his eyes. Sans knew that look. He’s worn one similar in the worlds before this one. For Asgore to wear it, though, something must be up. Both the monsters’ leaders were really old, and so was the ancient turtle, Gerson. They would likely recognize a mage when they saw one... Or at least that was his hope. 

The more Sans thought of it, the more he mulled over how your soul shimmered. How impossibly bright you were. It was a reoccurring thought. The more he saw of adult humans the more he had a measure of what was normal. And you... You and your friends and your teachers were different from that norm. Hell, even your roommate was a candle compared to a bonfire in your presence. What was it? Did some humans just have more magic than others? Like boss monsters versus regular monsters?

Frisk poked him with the end of their pencil and he flicked his gaze to them. They were pouting at him, “Are you paying attention, Sans?”

“heh. sorry i’m kinda  _ dead _ today kid.”

Oh, that was a flinch. That was definitely a flinch. While he didn’t know what happened after he’d been dust, and no one else had anything more than hints of deja vu, Frisk clearly remembered all of  **_it_ ** .

Sans heaved a sigh, switching forward in his seat to look at the child. He had several theories to explain their erratic behavior, not the least of which being the barrier’s influence. The skeleton couldn’t really blame a child as young as Frisk for being overwhelmed by the lingering malice of seven dead  _ adult _ mages. It had to be powerful to have held in all of monster kind for so long. Sans reached forward and pat the kids head with a knowing and apologetic smile.

For the remainder of Frisk’s study time, Sans was able to keep his attention on the child. Though the news still clawed for his ears. It was the breaking development from earlier today, the storm on the coast of Japan and the disappearing ships. More alarmingly, people were going missing by the baker’s dozen all over the country. Little black charms were left behind. All the people who disappeared knew each other in some capacity and they often vanished in the middle of the daytime on crowded streets. If that didn’t scream “magic”, Sans didn’t know what did. Of course, some of the fear mongers were trying to blame this on monsters, but they all started going missing almost a week ahead of time.

The skeleton resolved to ask Grillby what he’d heard from the others. That monster had the most contact with local humans next to Asgore and Tori. He’d be a good place to start, and he might know something about mages, too, being an elemental and the history between Grillby’s subspecies and human mages.

“Sans?”

“yeah, tori.” He looked over his shoulder at the towering boss monster behind him. 

“Pardon the lack of word play, but you seem distracted. Are you alright?”

His grin sunk a bit. “y-yeah. just....” Sans glanced over at Frisk, the child’s face fixed in rigorous concentration and their tongue pinched between their lips. “let’s talk in the kitchen.” Sans hopped out of his chair and scuffed over to lean against the far wall. Toriel followed, anxiousness clearly written over her serene features. He might as well start somewhere, right? “...what do you know about mages?”

There wasn’t really a soft way to ask the question and Toriel looked genuinely stunned. For a time, she was silent. “What... What do you need with this information, Sans?” Her gaze turned stoney, the red in her eyes darkening with a kind of motherly protection.

“so the kid is one of ‘em, huh? heh... probably coulda guessed that from how they got us all out of the underground.” His left eye flashed and his bones chilled. Condensation dripped down his skull as if he were perspiring. Really, it was just his frosty magic flaring up with nowhere to go. Of course he hadn’t meant it as a threat, he really was just unnerved. “tori, how many of them are there? how many... w-who-”

“I don’t know.” Toriel let out a sigh, holding his cyan gaze with a mix of grief and rage. “After so many years... I’m not even sure if they know what they are, though mages were nothing if not secretive. I know which humans might be mages, but it’s impossible to say for certain. It’s not about the amount of magic they possess, it’s how they can use it or if they even know they possess such power in the first place.” The once queen lowered her head, tightening her hands into fists at her side. “I get that same sinister feeling from Frisk, but... But they are different. I really believe that they couldn’t ever hurt another. It’s not part of their nature. I... I choose to have hope that humans can change.”

Sans really shouldn’t ask this... He really shouldn’t, but he  _ needed _ to know. “what did they do to you, tori?”

She refused to meet his gaze, turning away from Sans and covering her mouth with a paw. “Asgore and I... We are the only ones of our kind left. There used to be hundreds of us.”

“mages can do something like that... then what does it mean for us if humans don’t think we belong.” It wasn’t a question. Both of them knew the answer. “heh... forget i asked, tori. i’m... i’m going to grillby’s.”

“Don’t be long, alright?”

Sans nodded, meeting her eyes again. His smile was back, though sad. “promise.” With a flash and a pop, he hopped through the void to stand in front of the bar. The sounds of his fellows behind the door did little to reassure him, but a prickling warmth caressed down his spine. Your scent in the air had his soul thumping and the white points of his pupils blurring. His gaze was glued on where your back would be, the muffled hum of your laughter through the door drew him forward. Sans almost didn’t hear everyone greet him. 

His soul dropped like lead when he saw you stiffen up and your own soul flicker in fear. He unconsciously gripped a fistful of jacket, right over his fragile heart-shaped existence. Your body was pressed between two other humans; your classmates from on the mountain. The taller, lankier one on your right gently gripped your hand in reassurance while the other placed an arm around your shoulders- this one is Ming, if he recalled right- also turning towards him. Sans met the golden glare thrown his way and it felt much like being hit by a truck. That... That was similar to when he startled you before and your eyes flashed green, the color of your soul, only this was a concentrated threat. Who knew such a short guy could be so intimidating... heh. Irony’s a bitch.

The skeleton found himself  _ sans _ illuminated eyes, sinking into his hoodie. So much for that plan! No way in hell was he going to be getting information from Grillby tonight. He awkwardly shuffled over to his usual spot, two seats down from the kid with orange hair. Something about how that human looked at him had the monster pausing. That wasn’t... What? He met Colin’s gaze mildly awed at the guarded curiosity staring back down on him. Even more with how similar a look it was to Papyrus’ ‘solving a puzzle’ face.

Ming had since turned his glare to his drink... Once Sans noticed what it was, he felt a pang of sympathy for the human. Hotland Specials are... “spicy” to put it  _ mildly, _ and have left more than one monster breathing fire and rushing out the door to shove their heads into a snowdrift. There’s a reason it looked like magma in a cup.

Grillby passed him a bottle of ketchup and he tore away his gaze to the look at the nervously flickering elemental.  They both shared a silent moment of composing themselves before Sans swallowed his nerves with a swig of the thick tomato paste. He turned to the rest of the bar, forcing his joints to relax and a familiar bow to his spine let him look slouched and comfortable despite how ready he was to cut and run. Fake smile affixed to his skull with practiced ease, Sans launched into his first pun of the night.

* * *

You couldn’t move much less breath when Sans walked in, that same fight or flight spark to your magic. Colin’s gentle grip on your hand hid the green sparks from sight, his calm collected presence taking your mind off the ice in your soul, directing it to the heat in your cheeks. Ming’s arm pulled you into his side, his lithe muscles pressing against yours with each of his breaths. His hold was firm almost to the point of hurting where his fingers clasped down on your forearm. It was safe.

Your fear flowed out through your hand and Colin bore it, putting on a brave face. Your anger sear up from your back and Ming turned it towards the skeleton in a deathly glare. And then you were left to ponder the curve of your glass and the affection of the boys on either side and it was good, and it was bright, and it was numbing. A world in orange, gold, and green.

Then you were rooted back to reality by Colin squeezing your hand, his gaze fixed on your interlocked hands, and you gripped his, too. When you looked at Ming, gently placing your free hand on his and you smile a bit, he loosed up his hold on your bicep. This is fine. 

The skeleton is wisecracking, but you didn’t want to hear him. His soul with oscillating again and it made you more nauseous than the alcohol. You didn’t want to hear him. 

* * *

“ _ Disappear. _ ”

Sans stumbled mid joke, eyes going out. He made a side-eyed glance in your direction, you hadn’t moved much and sipped on your drink, actively ignoring him. Why in the hell did he- What was that?! The monster realized he just froze up, the others staring at him with concern starting to peek at their faces. “uh... well shoot, that was a pretty good ice joke, but the punch-line  _ slipped _ my mind.” Sans’ eyes flickered back on, spine still ridged from  _ that _ .

He turned to Grillby, but the elemental didn’t show any signs of having heard you speak. Neither did your friends, for that matter. Anyway, he was about out of this bottle, might as well get another, right? “thanks grillbz, but i’m gonna call it early for tonight. runnin’ outta good material.” He fumbled some money out of pocket and placed it on the counter. Honestly, Sans was as shocked as the bar _ tinder _ . He never paid. Not once.

There was something seriously wrong with him today.

Sans hopped back home, meeting Toriel and Asgore’s collective stare. He’d popped back in the living room. Undyne, Alphys, Mettaton, Papyrus, and even the kid were all there. His fake smile crashed and burned. His brother wasn’t smiling either.

“what happened?”

Asgore just shook his head, letting his hands do the heavy lifting his neck normally kept up. Toriel placed a paw on his back, turning her icy, numb gaze to the television. Sans followed her example. Humans. A lot of humans in suits and dresses all in one big room with banners hanging behind them. Many different humans from many different countries.

They were talking about monsters, monsters’ rights, laws and regulations on monsters, whether monsters even qualified as ‘people’. The broadcast was live.

And here, in this tiny room, was the Monster’s King, Queen, Captain of the Royal Guard, Royal Scientist, A monster Superstar, and above all the Monster Ambassador. Not one monster was in that summit room or at the broadcast station. Not. One. Not even Papyrus.

Sans ground his molars, fists balled in his hoodie pockets. As if this day wasn’t bad enough. “what are we gonna do about this, asgore?” No answer. “tori?” Still. Nothing.

For a long, long time, that’s all it was. Nothing. No one had an answer, no one knew what to do, what they could do. Monsters had only been on the surface for a few days at most. All of them were at a loss. Humans changed so much and yet so little that any way monsters had of dealing with them was gone.

Asgore finally stood, his eyes red and the fur beneath them damp. “This...” He couldn’t speak past the lump in his throat, claws trembling impotently at his sides while sorrow and justified wrath warred behind his eyes. His old, pale-red eyes that had seen all this before. How much heavier it must weigh on Asgore and Toriel than the rest of them. Sans glowered at the TV.

The phone rang. 

No one moved though they all, with himself the exception, turned toward the sound. Sans didn’t want to be here, he didn’t want to be anywhere. For some reason, he found himself climbing the stairs to his room, porting in, and flopping down onto his bed, curling into a ball and squeezing his sockets shut. Just trying to block out the static calling him back to that place. In response to his desires to stay despite it all a prickling warm smell coiled down his ‘throat,’ choking him. Sans’ eyes snapped open and his fist balled up the soft green fabric. 

The monster glared down at it, as if this unassuming scrap of clothing caused everything to go wrong. But... the more he tried to hate the underwear, the more he remembered its owner, your bravery, your justice, your kindness. The sound of your laugh, the flustered look on your face. That way you tilted your hips when you walked, so natural like you didn’t notice. He’d imagined the sensation of your muscles expanding and contracting under his fingers, curious and a little mystified by how you just floated everywhere you went, like walking didn’t require energy at all. And gods above, your soul hinting at the true beauty of who you are, captivating his attention. You were impossible to ignore, and every instinct he had screamed at him to just be near you.

On the other hand, his rational side demanded he examine all the evidence. All of it, from how bright you are to the shine in your eyes, the feeling of power rolling off you with each graceful stride you took. Sans dry swallowed. Your voice had reached him twice now in the span of a few hours. Was it his imagination fueled by these crazy, out of control impulses, or was it something more sinister? If monsters could have survived this long, then the far more tenacious.... more determined human mages damn well  _ didn’t _ -

“ _ Disappear _ .”

He shuddered at the recall. That  _ just _ happened to him under very different circumstances. He had no way of testing this, none that didn’t involve him stalking you anyway. And... that would just have the opposite effect. He... 

Sans needed to distance himself from you; to get a breath of fresh air and his skull on straight. His soul clenched and shuddered in his ribs. The skeleton curled in on himself tighter, pulling both hands to his face. Your underwear brushed against his temple, gaze still fixed on it despite his mind being thousands of miles away. 

If he was going to thrust away where his soul was dragging him, then this.... this is the one indulgence he’d allow himself, only this and only for now. For his sanity. Sans placed his hands over his soul, shaking as a sob finally broke the damn he’d been hastily constructing.

_ this one thing. just this once. _  He repeated it like an oath, a mantra over and over again while his magic sparked and flickered.  _ just this once _ . 

\--

You would have liked to say things got a bit more relaxed once Sans left, and they were... kinda? Ming was a good third into his drink before the burn set in, you offered him yours as did Colin and between the two substantially less spicy beverages he manage to cool off a bit. Grillby then placed a round of three identical drinks that looked like a slice of winter in a cup. The foaming head was almost powdery and snowlike while the fluid itself was the color of wintergreen listerine, but slightly foggy.

Ming was going to protest when the elemental scribbled something down on a note and pushed it over. Perfect cursive letters declared “On the house,” and the monster gestured to the new drinks.

Colin was the first to take a sip, eye widening at the cocktail. “It’s... minty?”

Feeling some of his boldness rub off on you, your own experimental sip lead you to the same conclusion. If winter could be wrapped up into a drink, this was it. The bit of vegetable was wrapped around a candy cane, sprigs of mint and other sweet winter berries. Despite the definite cold the drink possessed, your stomach felt warm, the toasty sensation reaching every corner of your fingers and toes. It was... really nice.

Ming finally joined in, humming in surprise at his own discovery. The three of you cupped your drinks like hot cocoa and sipped, each a little more drunk on the magic than the alcohol. Pretty soon you forgot why you were so upset and let your body relax against the counter. From there, it was a bit hazy, you only knew that you had started giggling at something Colin was doing. The guy was grinning up a storm and making a fool of himself, getting even the monsters to laugh, though he was still holding up better than both you  _ and _ Ming. When you finally realized that there were substantially fewer monsters in the bar than before, you decided it was time to leave. With a brisk tug on Colin’s hoody and a slightly hazzed smile, you slurred out a “Let’s go back.”

“Okay, girly.” He stood, pulling you to your feet with Ming right behind, fumbling out some money for the bartender. Your priest helped you back into your jacket, the feeling of being fluffy and warm made you smile, just a little tipsy. The warrior caught up at the door, his own jacket in hand, and you all linked arms at the elbows, Colin having to bend down just a little for you. The cool night air kissed your flushed face and you hummed along to a song you never really heard before. Oh, that’s such a nice melody, light and sweet. You wondered who it belonged to. Wait a second... You know this song, right? It’s on the tip of your- Oh gods, it’s  _ you _ ! You were hearing your own song like a second heartbeat inside your head! “W-waits-” You fumbled through your pockets, pulling out a scrap of notebook paper and a green pen, really trying to focus on what you heard pouring up out of your core.

Both the boys were looking at you a little bleary-eyed and confused. Colin between you and the street let you work some sneaky shortcuts, getting the melody down by striking a line and letting the text change to match what you heard, circumventing your booze addled mind altogether.

“Soul... Whut’zat?” Ming mumbled under his breath and you blushed a bit. 

“‘T’s me.”

They blinked, both snapping into alertness at once, eyes glued on your slightly shaking hands. The more of your song you wrote down the more it changed, an elusive beat that slipped out of your grip. Yep. Drunk. You were probably going to regret this in the morning, but dammit all, this is exciting! With an overly giddy laugh, you pull both of your boys into a hug. “Mhm. Tonigh’ wus great! We shoul’ hang out more.”

Colin looped your arm up over his shoulder with a laugh of his own, sweeping you up into his arms. For somebody  _ that _ skinny he was really strong. You found yourself feeling at his forearms while trying to detect the hidden musculature currently dangling you over the cement.

The actual trip back to the room was a bit of a blur really. You stumbled over yourself a bit more than you would have liked, swearing lightly at your sudden inability to walk. A cop stopped the three of you to ask if you were alright- or at least, you think so? There was certainly going to be a big ol’ hole in your memory tomorrow and even recent events were slipping away alarmingly fast. Once the three of you got back to the hotel, a bit of the jolliness had worn off. It seemed there was a mistake in which room key Theo gave you. This is a honeymoon suit. One very large, very elaborate bedroom, a small side room with a door- oh wait, it’s a closet- and a combined living, kitchen, and dining room space. On the whole, it took up one entire floor of the three-story structure. Since this was actually the top floor, and Ebott’s kind of flat out towards the college, you had a perfectly romantic view of the mountain. It stilled your racing mind when you saw all the little lights climbing up the slopes.

“Ummm, Soul?”

“Huh!” You turned around sharply to Ming and Colin who were shifting awkwardly.

“I’m so sorry ‘bout Theo gettin’ the room wrong,” the shorter muttered. “‘E’s not normally like... erm, likely to mix that up.”

Colin shuffled about a little. “I can sleep on the sofa and I’m sure there’s a air mattress somewhere. So you can take the bedroom, I gu-”

“No!” They both jolted at your sudden shout. “If anyone is sleeping on the sofa, it’s gonna be me. I’m small enough to fit comfortably and there’s two of you. You guys share the bed. I’ll take the couch.”

Ming flushed a bit. “But you’d be exposed all night.”

A confident, loopy grin spread over your face and you pointed right at his nose, causing him to jump at the sudden closeness. “Not if we move the couch into the side room there!”

The boys turned to stare blankly at each other before they both grunted a ‘fine’ and got to helping you move the couch. Of course it would have been a lot harder if you weren’t using magic. By the time you settled in for the night, you were beat. Both from the monster-magic cocktail and the drunken use of magic- which was stupidly inefficient-  you felt like you could sleep for years. And when you did finally drift off, sleeping in the closet, Ming and Colin turned toward each other. Without you there, they didn’t have to play intoxicated.

“Heh. You can hold your liquor.” The one with orange hair spoke first, turning to gaze down on Ming with that empty stare he gave to any puzzle.

The warrior replied with a smirk. “You and I both know that alcohol wasn’t the real issue. Though, I’m surprised it affected you so little.”

Colin huffed. “Theo giving us this room... you did that intentionally, didn’t you?”

“Guilty.” Ming shrugged with a tilt of his head before turning toward the large sweeping view of the mountain. “I wanted Soul to see this. I wanted you to see it, too, and think about what life must be like for monsters now that they’re up here. It’s gotta be hard...” he turned to look at Colin from over his shoulder, grin falling slightly, “keeping all those secrets.”

“Shut up.” The priest hissed, balling his hands into fists. “You don’t know the first thing about me beyond  _ that _ . I won’t let you hurt h-.”

Ming sighed through his nose, rolling his eyes. “We can go through this whole song and dance again, ‘Cols’. I’m not going to hurt her- if anyone is going to do that, it’s you. Honestly, Stillwater letting you into the school, knowing who you are?”

Colin flinched and failed to catch himself in time, eyes burning orange in a quiet fury. “Don’t. Don’t you dare even think...”

“She doesn’t know, does she? Oh, gods! That’s too perfect!” Ming started laughing into his hand, fixing the other boy back with a scalding golden stare of his own. He tapered off with a sigh, sitting on the bed. “Don’t worry about it,  _ Priest _ . Hold up your end and my lips remain sealed, yes? Now we both know Soul will throw a fit tomorrow if we don’t play along, so come to bed already.”

Colin glared daggers at Ming, not moving from his place by the closet door. 

The warrior growled under his breath. “Look. I hate you. You hate me. Fine. I know you don’t sleep, but honest to god, I do.  _ Nothing _ is going to happen. Hell, erect a pillow fort if you want to just so we don’t touch if you’re  _ that _ uptight about it. Just get on the damn bed and at least  _ pretend _ for tonight.”

Begrudgingly, Colin approached, stuffing a wall of pillows between himself and Ming, but refusing to sleep with his back to the other boy. Ming grumbled and rolled over, falling asleep shortly after. Eventually Colin closed his eyes and let himself drift off in meditation.

* * *

Sans wasn’t going to sleep tonight. Not after... Egh. His muted footsteps crunched through the snow. The underground was so empty, yet still beautiful. A gilded cage. Still, the bars felt more real than the open sky above them. He took a deep breath of the Snowdin air, noting the buzz through his bones he’d never thought of before. Magic, real and everywhere, unlike the surface where it felt...

How did it feel by comparison? It wasn’t that magic was thinner so much as... more spread out? Underground things were smushed together, dense. Up there, space just kept going and going and going. There were no solid borders for anything. Yeah, that was it. Above everything blended together in broad sweeping gradients; things were much harder to categorize, understand and study. Down here, they were repetitious, simplistic. Day A started with X, Y happened, then ended on Z. Things were predictable, patterned. Even the kid was, though their oscillations from one pattern to the next were sudden and distressing at best.

Maybe it was just humans that were confusing. What with their volatile yet lingering souls, insane abilities to adapt. Yes, that had to be it. Humans made things complicated. Humans were the ‘spanner in the works’, so to speak.

Sans... never was really fond of humans per se. He... It was complicated for more than just him; the Doctor, too. W.D.G. He gave up trying to go back so long ago, there was no point to it. Sans sighed into his jacket sleeve, stifling the yawn that followed. What was he even doing here? The skeleton shook his head, hopping over to Waterfall. The bench here was a place he used to spend a lot of time in before... the incident. He knew being here was supposed to make him feel something, just like that photo of those three smiling face and the words he wrote on the back. It had all faded by now.

Part of him was glad for it, like putting a nightmare to bed for good. 

Sans sat down on the isolated bench and closed his eye sockets, letting the sounds of Waterfall wash over him. He hummed a song he’d heard a long time ago, someplace very far away. Moonlight and pine trees. A soft sigh through the winter air. The long shadows cast in the flickering of magic fire. The rows and rows of books, thick library shelves and stone walls. Scents of old hide and ink, the chanting of supplicants in search of knowledge.

He blinked his eyes open, pulling out his phone to check the time. Alphys messaged him, it was nearly two in the morning. Blearily, the skeleton pulled open ‘Undernet’ to see what the dinotile said. If he had a heart, it would have stopped. It was an image file of a book from the True Lab, blueprints for a Gaster Blaster. A massive Gaster Blaster. Only the reference sheets included were written on vellum in a very old magic language. A language used by human mages.

He stood, thoughts reeling at flashes of events he couldn’t catch zoomed passed his mind’s eye. What the hell is he forgetting?! What can’t he remember?! 

Grinding his molars, Sans leapt back to the house, speed walking into Alphys’ room. The half closest to the door was tiled and constructed as an in house laboratory, desks and shelves with a large metal table taking the centre space. She was hunched over her desk, clearly dressed for bed but now wide awake with two cups of coffee clenched in her claws.

“S-Sans. Y-you came over r-really f-fast. I-I thought-t y-you’d be in th-the und-derground a while l-longer.” The bulky reptilian monster adjusted her glasses after handing him one cup. She’d already thrown a lab coat on over her Mew Mew Kissy Cutie pajamas. “I k-know it’s a-asking a lot, b-but... Sans, can you read this journal?”

He looked into her eyes, studying the subtle clues in her face. Alphys was just as petrified as he was, though more likely because the schematics bore striking resemblances to the late Doctor’s latter works. Some of which still populated the oldest levels of the True Lab.

With a deep breath and a nod, Sans took the pages from Alphys, carefully laying them on the table and turning on the overhead light. Judging by the verse structure, the diction, and the implied cadence if the instructions were read aloud, this would be a first era classical piece. That or it was produced by someone trained in the more esoteric styles of early mages. The runes weren’t that difficult in and of themselves, but their arrangement was problematic. Well that and the nature of the humans’ magic languages were such that prying monster would be pained at reading them.

Sans bit down harder on his teeth, causing them to squeak slightly while he ‘chewed on nothing’. A burgeoning headache stabbed down through his eye sockets, insistent at deterring him. The beginnings of W.D.G.’s coded language marked some of the pages, more rudimentary and harder to decipher. What he did gather, he didn’t like. “it’s a hub unit. step one to creating a synthetic ‘control monster’ artifice.”

“W-what?”

Sans turned to look at Alphys with his eyes dim. “this was written by a human mage. notes on how to build monsters without souls. it’s... it’s an early prototype for my blasters but... smarter. sentient.” He placed a hand on his chin, dread sinking into his bones along with cloying doubt. “and by how similar the designs are for the power back-funneling... i’d say whoever made the blueprints for the dt extractor made these too, made the blasters... and the core.”

“T-the royal scientist b-before me?! B-but there’s no way that he c-could- How would-d he e-even k-know!? C-could he have b-been working w-with a-a- A-Asgore wouldn’t have allowed it!”

“asgore might not have known.”

Alphys stared at the pages and old journal, mouth slightly agape and her breathing rapid and shallow. “O-oh my gods.” She covered her mouth with her claws, staring at Sans with a clear shake in her shoulders. “W-what do we tell the King?” Alphys whispered past her tightening throat.

“we don’t tell him anything.”

“B-B-b-but!”

“alph, asgore is stressed enough with our political precariousness that telling him monsterkind’s priso- last resort refuge may have been made by a human mage with the intention of creating and amassing control over an artificial monster army wouldn’t help anything. we need to save this for when we are on safer footing with humans, or maybe even never.” He shrugged up his jacket, sighing into the light fur trim. “it’s not like we know what happened to him anyway. he could be dead, he could just be somewhere very far away, but the point is he’s gone. best if it stays that way.”

“S-Sans. W-We can’t j-just ignore this. What happened with...  _ him _ happened and then you and Papyr-”

“alph.” Sans’ shoulders were stiff, his eyes out and voice dark. “leave it.”

She shook, looking down at the coffee mug in her shaking hands. “N-no. No, I won’t just ‘leave it’ Sans. I made a promise to Frisk, to Undyne, to everyone that I’d tell the truth. No more secrets and lies, no more hiding my mistakes. No mo-”

Sans rounded on her fully, hands in his pockets, smile gone, and cyan gaze fixed right onto her own. She froze up, unable to speak outside a quick, pathetic squeak. He took the one step closer he needed to be almost nose to nose with the terrified scientist. “that isn’t your secret to tell, doctor.” The skeleton took a deep breath and leaned back to let Alphys shudder a breath of her own. “i’m only going to say this once, cause i like you, alphys. when i tell you to stay out of something, you damn well better listen. do i make myself clear?”

“Y-Yes sir!”

He couldn’t help but see the flash of her as a terrified intern, shaking in her scales at her first major mistake. Sans blinked the image away. He didn’t need half-spun memories impeding his judgement. “let this go, alphys. the less information circulating about gaster, the better. lock those journals up wherever you dug ‘em out of... just in case we do need ‘em later.” Sans did his best to relax his tone, to sink back into his soft and lazy sentry persona again, but it wasn’t quite sitting right. “i’m going back to snowdin. see you in the morning.”

“A-alright. G-g-good-bye, S-sans.”

He hopped back into the perpetually wintery forest with a sigh. His magic was already running on low from earlier. Now he had this mess to sort out. Gods, he’s going to have a headache tomorrow morning. The flashes of runes still squirmed around in his skull and there was nothing he could do to shake them. He saw them on every surface in the underground, like wells of raw energy and information pressing in all around him. Sans found himself wandering through Hotland by the time he noticed the sigils all over The Core’s exterior. 

Now it was the skeleton’s turn to freeze, staring at the massive swirling brands of magic coating the monster’s greatest invention. It wasn’t even a monster’s work, was it? No, not like this, no way. Sans hopped over the molten rock with one of his shortcuts, right onto the service platforms for The Core. His hands grazed the marks, each rune glowing brighter as his bones ran over them.

“who was telling you what to do, gaster? who showed you how to build this? what human were you hiding for all these years? is that why you disappeared?” No matter how many questions he voice, nothing came to him. Sans really was alone in the caverns.

His fingers ran over a divot in the shelling that he couldn’t see in the underlit glow of Hotland. Without hesitating, Sans pulled it open. A door lock. The keypad wasn’t so much an actual keypad as opposed to a seal constructed of multiple runes rotating out from one central point in a counterclockwise spell structure. He would have to manipulate a burst of magic just right to unlock each successive layer and open whatever was hidden within the central point of hope monster held of the longest time.

But, with what was in that journal, was he really sure he wanted this opened? It could be something incredibly dangerous, a world ending device. Or Gaster himself could be here, waiting in the dark for whatever machination he and that mage concocted to complete. The Doctor was never interested in getting to the surface before, so why would he develop something like the DT extractor or the blasters? It just didn’t make sense.

Even if he did want to open the door right away, there would be no telling how long this lock would take to crack. Convoluted magic like this wasn’t meant to be opened in one day. Sans shook his head and set about memorizing everything about this hidden seal before replacing the panel how he’d found it. One last thing to make sure he could find it again, Sans placed a bottle an empty mustard bottle from back when he ran hot cat stands on the platform beneath the seal.

There. Now to draft a copy of that lock and figure out how to open it, or reseal it as a contingency against whatever he might find there.

* * *

“Were you followed?” One man in a dark hoodie mumble to another while waiting for the light to change at a crosswalk.

“No. Were you?” the second responded with a hooked smile, thumbing his combat knife through his pocket.

“Don’t be a smartass, Tullus.” The greasy motel worker’s new companion hissed under his breath as the light changes. They walked a short distance from each other, looking to all the world as strangers merely headed to the same place. Not an unusual occurrence for a city like Ebott. “Have you found any more materials? The president expects a large harvest from all our hard work over the last few months.”

“Ha!” Tullus grunted, “Do you have any idea how hard it is to get quality magical stock these days? Ever since that damn school up on the hill opened, the brats we’re getting are all too sharp. ‘Gather materials’,” he spat on the road. “Like hell it would be that easy. We’re better off trying to harvest them instead, get some more thoroughbreds in the barn. We could ‘grow’ material that way. Or better yet, just go back to the primal ways now that the dustbins are back on the surface.”

The first man glared at Tullus with crimson eyes. “Do not speak so openly fool, the white cloaks are everywhere, as you yourself said. Do you want to get yourself killed? Or maybe you’d rather risk the whole coven for your slothful actions.”

“I’m not wrong, Decon. Our newest supplicant is of the worthy stock. His professors have no clue he is one of us and the child has only grown in power since he’s reached those vaulted marble halls of our selfish kin.”

The Decon huffed, turning down the alley leading to the Viper’s Den club. “Fine. I’ll talk to the president about your plan, but until I’ve given you the word, act as you have been instructed, Tullus. If the Seven Souls are reborn before our plans are complete, this world we hold so dear will end and mankind will be wiped from the earth.”

“When should we let the brute out of its den?”

“When the devil stop screaming with words.”

Tullus parted ways with the Decon, heading back to give his partner the news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took notes on the preview survey before deleting it and I'd like to do another for the next preview too.
> 
> Also if anyone is more familiar tumblr I have one of those, and I'm currently working to but another together specifically for this story. It will include in character asks from some of the professors as well as background lore that can be expanded on with how much interaction people are willing to have with it. I'll put a link up for it when I'm done working out the bugs.
> 
> warcraftedtardis.tumblr.com | Poke me   
> patreon.com/angieofthewarcraftedtardis | Help me survive


	7. Deja Vous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is going to hit some people in the feels and bring up so many questions about who's who and what the fudge is going on. Have fun, feel free to ask questions.  
> Caroline has a breakdown and You realize that your relationships might not be as platonic as you thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, in case you missed the stream when I put this chapter up here are the winner for that raffle:  
> 1\. Mististar  
> 2\. Lallo  
> 3\. Cvy
> 
> That means Misti will be getting a cameo, Lallo may request and receive credit for a chapter in the Anthology, and Cvy may ask one question with a guaranteed answer. If you want to let me know what kind of prizes you'd want in the future I'd be happy to take some suggestions!

 

You blink awake, one arm thrown behind your back, head half-hanging off the seat cushion, and a damp feeling smeared across your right cheek. You haven’t been this stiff since last Christmas, when your tiny cousin took over your room and you had to sleep down on the couch by the tree. At least you didn’t fall off and get wedged between the couch and the wall.

With one soft groan and a lot of under the breath swearing, you sat up, fingers combing through your hair. Your back shrieked in protest at the sudden movement while you did your best to ignore it and get changed into the clothes you had stripped off last night. They still smelled like pine needles and smoke. Thank goodness you’d remembered to pull them off before going to bed, so at least you didn’t sleep in them.

The guys wouldn’t mind too much, right? Nah, it’s fine.

Standing up to exit the... closet -why were you sleeping in a closet?- your head gave a stab of pain that ran all the way down your spin to your toes. Your soul felt heavy in your chest, the vague uncapturable rhythm of ‘you’ pounding away in your ears, fighting your thudding heart for which could hurt you more. The gross taste in your mouth hit you next. The ‘forgot to brush your teeth before going to bed’ kind of flavor.

You grab your phone and push the door open, freezing up when you notice Colin and Ming on the bed together.  _ So that’s why. _ There were a few pillows on the floor, scattered about mostly at the foot of the bed. It’s almost like someone made a wall and then tossed and turned too much. Now they were cuddled up, Ming’s face hiding in Colin’s shoulder. You flipped the camera on silent, silently ‘aww’ing as you snapped the perfect candid-shot. With a quick few taps it was your background.

Stealthily, you made your way around the room to the wall-window. Ebott’s peak backlit by the sun. People were already milling about the shadowed valley. You could only imagine what the view from here of the sunset was like. You’d lived on the mountainside for nearly four years now, you’d been part of the painting. But now, having stepped out, you could admire the beauty of it. Hopefully you’d be back early enough tonight to snap a picture of that painting at its finest.

A slow breath drew from your lips, tinted a light forest green from your magic. Your mind wandered to Sans and how it must be for him and the other monsters, finally able to see the sky, feel the sun, taste the open air. It must all be rather like a dream. A part of you wondered if they would ever wake from the dream of the surface, another part of you didn’t want them too. That would sure be the cause of much suffering and despair.

You shook your head, blinking as the sunlight fully rose over the mountain peak and poured liquid life into Ebott’s waning shadow. Taking one last look at the boys, a genuine sense of relaxation came over you. You could live, you could thrive... You could make some breakfast. Oh, and coffee. Coffee would be great right about now. 

Your feet carried you back into the livingroom-diningroom-kitchen combo area, closing the door softly behind you before the smell of bacon and other warm breakfast scents slapped you to alertness. There was the greasy rat from the front desk. Any notions of safety and comfort froze up in an icy terror at the wrongness of this man. Though his back was towards you, that didn’t change the chills needling down your arms. Yet, for some reason... you were numb.

“Tullus, what are you doing here?” Your voice remained flat despite the sudden jump in your heart rate driving more pain through your skull to the point it made you wince.

He smiled, that crooked smile you only needed to see once to make your skin crawl, turning to glance at you over his left shoulder. “Makin’ ya kids some breakfast. Especially after the night you must have had. Though I should be honest and say I’d expected them up before you.” His gaze flicked up and down your figure in a way that made your stomach turn.

“So, you were the one who put us in the honeymoon room? What, did you think just because we’re college students we want to fuck everything that moves?” Your arms crossed over your chest just as your fear was thawed by more than a bit of misplaced hatred. Even if Tullus may have implied that you’d been in a threeway last night, the sudden flush of anger just wasn’t like you. Without hesitating you staked forward into the kitchen.

The jack actually jumped a bit, himself wary in a way you hadn’t seen, nor even thought he could be by his previous arrogant demeanor. It hit you suddenly, he wasn’t Sans. He wasn’t someone you really had to be afraid of. Tullus is another mage, moreover, he’s a mage with no formal education.

His rhythm was guarded but not subtle; experienced but not schooled. A smile curved at the corners of your mouth. You relaxed. Ming and Colin were in the other room and you knew the latter was a light sleeper. You had enough magical experience yourself to defend yourself against another mage if pressed. There was nothing Tullus could do to you.

With a slight glare you reached up to get a mug from the lowest cabinet shelf. “I’ll finish cooking breakfast.  _ You _ leave.”

The older male grunted, moving from the stove to edge past you. He felt confused, frustrated, and only a little afraid. Something about his movements put you on guard too, eyes narrowing at the man. Eventually though, he slinked his way to the door, turning around to lock gazes with you once again. Tullus laughed, a sound halfway nervous, halfway proud. “Kids these days... You’re going to go far, make sure it’s in the right direction.” And he was gone, out the door in an instant. 

You swallowed at his ominous words, not sure whether that was an admonishment or a threat. Frankly, you didn’t want to think about it. Instead, you turned back to the stove and shifted the bacon around, flipping it so that the strips wouldn’t burn. 

Making breakfast brought a more genuine smile to your face, it reminded you of home. Your father rushing down the stairs in his dress shirt and suit pants, jacket hung over one shoulder while he spoke hurriedly with someone over the phone. He’d always grab the to go bag you made for him, replete with coffee, give you a kiss on the forehead, and tell you he loved you and wished you a good day at school before finishing his sprint out the door. Your siblings and mother next, all downstairs by eight. Though your mom also got up at seven and made herself a cup of coffee before going back up to shower and get dressed. You’d shower first, passing her on your way to your room to get ready for the day. 

Mom used to make breakfast for all of you, but since you were the oldest, you took it upon yourself to help however you could. That meant cooking. The routine was comfortable and you hadn’t really been able to keep up with it at college. You’d stopped getting up at seven when you started staying up past midnight. 

You started humming a song your mother used to sing while she worked. She was a designer that worked out of your house, sometimes going off to consult on different projects. You got your killer sense of fashion from her and your big heart from your dad. He’s a greeny too, showed you how to shake off the insults and derogatory words thrown your way. ‘If we cannot be good, then at least we must be kind. Sometimes being kind is the only thing you can do, and that is alright.’ Your smile grew a bit wider when you reflected on your high school days. You hadn’t known Colin then, but you did have a mundie friend, Sam. They were always so full of life. You still Snapchatted them every now and then, their own college antics felt so far removed from the world you lived in, though. You wondered if they were having a nice weekend too?

Ah, it was good to be off campus though. It had been a good long while since you last left WCC, especially when it wasn’t a holida-

The image of that burning cyan eye sent a shudder down your spine again and you bit your lip. That’s right, he’s the reason you aren’t at your dorm right now. Because you might not be safe. Your grip on the pan tightened, the smell of burning bacon getting registered a second too late and you yanked the pan off the stove, nearly taking Colin’s head off in the process.

“Oh, shit! Sorry, sorry! I didn’t hear you Cols, sorry!”

He laughed nervously, having fallen backwards to avoid getting hit. The lanky young man gripped the counter at his back with a scared smile. “It’s okay. Uh, you maybe want to put that down and turn your magic off, Soul?”

“H-hu?” You looked up at the pan, paling a little bit at the sparking green aura around it. “Oh geez, sorry.” With a flick of the wrist, you switched off the burner and moved the pan to the other side, letting it cool. The empty mug you took down still sitting on the counter next to you. Right, coffee. Need that. 

You grabbed another mug for Colin, not even needing to ask how he liked his. You still remembered. Brewing up two cup, you awkwardly twiddle your fingers against the counter while your friend straightened up, fixing the loose hang of his shirt. Your shoulders were tense, mind racing with all of the awful things that could have happened if you’d actually hit Colin with a magically charged fry pan, even more so that you didn’t even notice you’d used magic in the first place. And then there’s th-

You jumped. Colin’s arms had wrapped around your middle and his chin rested on your head. He had to lean over a little bit to do this, but still, his hold was gentle. Colin, like always, the gentle giant. Sometimes you wondered why he was Brave more than kind, but then at times like this, it didn’t much matter. You held the back of his hands, studying the bones beneath his pale skin. He knew you well, too, didn’t he?

“Are you okay, Soul?”

Yes, yes he most certainly did. “I’m not sure, actually. Tullus Karn, that jack from the front desk here... He, uh. He was in here starting breakfast for us. Said some pretty ominous things when I told him to leave... Then I guess I was just thinking too much  _ about _ too much.” You let your head fall back against Colin’s ribs and sternum.

“Oh...” His shock of orange hair filled most of your vision when shifted to kiss you on the crown of your head. “Well, Ming and I are right here, okay. You always have us... You’ll always have me.”

You blinked at him, the rapid thudding of his rhythm against the inside of your head gave you pause. “Colin?”

“Yeah?”

“There’s ... something else you want to say, isn’t there?”

He swallowed and let his arms fall loose. You turned to look up at those shining hazel eyes, searching for those words just behind them. “Soul... I-” He bit off his words, dropping his gaze to the floor between you and him. Colin took a deep breath, gently taking your right hand in his left and lifting your palm to press over his heart. He looked you in the eyes and did not speak for one moment. Then another. You gave him the time to gather his thoughts. “I will  _ always _ protect you.”

You stared up at him, dumbfounded. Those five little words carried more meaning that you could unpack at the moment. The orange glow just behind his eyes, the pulsating warmth of magic beneath your palm. Had Colin’s skin not been in the way, you’d be touching his soul. It stole your breath and misted your eyes up some at how deep this well of energy went. You couldn’t explore all of it even if you had a thousand years.

He let you go. Gave you space. He walked away, into the bathroom to get cleaned up from last night. You just stood there, staring at your palm, the warmth still vibrantly shimmering against your hand. There were no words. None at all. You finally tore your eyes away, looking after Colin.

Ming had just walked out of the bedroom, combing his hair back with his fingers. “Hmm. What smells so good? ...Soul? Earth to Soul?”

“Hu! Oh, s-sorry. I’m just...” No, that couldn’t be what Colin meant, right. You shook your head, taking a deep breath. “Heh, this day is... already off to one hell of a start. Anyway, bacon?”

“Mhm, yes, please.” The warrior rubbed your back, right between your shoulders. He smiled softly at you and the prickling feeling of wild speculation skittered down from Ming’s fingers. His hand rested on your shoulder and you grabbed it without thinking. 

Shaking yourself from the foolish thoughts that tried to snare you, you smiled back at him, putting three plates together. “Go sit down, Ming. I got this.”

He smirked at you. “Heh, you sure?”

“Yes I am sure, you cheeky sir. Now shoo.”

Ming laughed, “Okay, okay. ... It’s nice to see you smiling again.”

You silently thanked the gods that your back was to him, face turning a bright shade of red. No, no! He was just being ... nice. He’s your friend so of course he wants you to smile. There’s nothing going on here. Nope, nothing.

Your fist clenched, the warmth still pressed against your palm. You pulled it up to your chest, taking a shaky breath and letting it out slowly. 

There are no words. You don’t ... You’re not... Are you? No, it’s not... You picked up your coffee and took a quick sip. Your throat was tight.

* * *

 

She let out a tight sigh, forcing open the dorm room door that always felt the need to stick. You weren’t here, which was fine in the long run. It was a weekend and Mr. Spooky-scary-teleport-guy had done something really... unnerving and well.... creepy as all hell. Caroline tromped into the living room space, dropping her backpack on the sofa and whispering softly, “I’m home.” She’d gotten used to you not being around, your schedules were so different, but even on the days you stayed out with Colin or someone it still felt like you were here. This was a home she shared with you, the thought that she might have to leave it made her stomach hurt.

Care shook her head, trying to smile. Nothing was for certain, things could still work out. She just had to not worry about it. Yeah, live every day as it comes! She hummed the song you played for her a few days ago, closing her eyes and imagining how your voice had sounded. Something unwound in her chest, a very faint feeling she was only aware of when overjoyed to stressed. Feeling any strong, overwhelming emotion really and it was even more potent around you. The sensation grounded her in your songs and breathed a calm tingling down her back. Cool and soft. Comforting, even. As long as she had that feeling, everything was going to be all right.

Caroline rocked onto the balls of feet, lifting herself all the way onto the points of her toes. It had been a long time since she had done this and so lost her balance with a nervous squeak. With a deep breath she lifted up onto her toes again, being sure to go slowly and marking her posture. Care tied her hair up into a messy bun, lifting her arms above her head. Your phantasmal song still drifted through the back of her mind, that tune you hummed when you weren’t thinking about it, the one that always took you a few minutes to find. Caroline couldn’t quite pick it up, but she had structured some steps to certain parts.

With a soft sigh, she dropped onto her heels and turned on her music, making sure her phone was charging while it played. She started dancing as she moved, putting away her dirty clothes and cleaning up. Caroline went over everything with a fine tooth comb, spending the better part of two hours just making it look like a home improvement magazine inside. Her beaming smile had returned as she sang along, dusting and polishing the furniture. Pictures were straightened, dishes cleaned and dried and put up, the bathroom scrubbed down. Everywhere that could be made to shine was gleaming. She eventually got to your room, not doing too much, just picking up and organizing. She tapped out a few notes on your keyboard, imagining the way your hands had moved and trying to mimic it. 

Caroline started at her ringtone blaring over the speakers, quickly turning back to the living room. She went to pick it up and froze, brow knitting together. She had unlisted callers set to go straight to voicemail, yet this one somehow got through. She didn’t recognize the number and there was no name attached, just “Out of Area.” 

Unplugging it, Care answered, pressing the built in speaker up to her ear. There was a beat of silence before she mumbled out a “Hello?”

“Caroline. It’s nice to finally talk to you.” The voice was deep, distorted. Like a person talking through a broken microphone.

“Who is this?” Dealing with her dad’s side of the family had given her a hard manner of speaking that she employed when frightened. It was all bravado, though. In reality, she was shaking, her pulse almost drowning out the soft, rattling laughter.

Another beat of silence made her mouth run dry. “I forget sometimes that you don’t know me. That’s fine. We’ll have lots of time to get get acquainted soon enough.” She didn’t have a chance to swear this person out when a knock sounded on the door. 

It came from the other line too.

Caroline’s heart leapt into her throat and she backed away from the door, trying to stay as silent as possible. She was near tears with the shaking realization that whoever this was knew she was here and there was no way out. If she hung up, they would break down the door, if she said nothing, they would break down the door, and if she cried out for help... 

The knock came again, more persistent than last time. “Open up, Caroline.”

“N-no. I don’t know you.”

“Fine. I’ll let myself in.”

Caroline dropped the phone with a jolt when her dorm door slammed open. A large, broad-shouldered man pushed his way into the room, dressed in all black robes that hung loosely over his body. She backpedaled, stumbling into your room and sliding down your bookshelf, dislodging a few volumes over the floor around her.

The man followed after, calmly walking to stand over her. His boots were thick, black leather. They looked old and caked with mud. Caroline snapped to attention, grabbing the heaviest book and hurling it full force at his head, and-

It stopped. It fucking stopped mid air. His hand boiled with a blackish-reddish aura, dark and glowing eyes staring down as if they pierced her very soul.  Tears slipped down her face and any fragment of bravado melted away. The man above her smirked, book drifting into his open hand. “Tolkien. How... interesting. Is this your roommate’s room?” He dropped it by Caroline’s feet, the cover seared and smoking. 

“I-I- Ah-” By this point she was hyperventilating, sure that she was going to die. The man knelt before her, Caroline’s desperate scream for help cut off by a sudden inability to move. The last thing she saw was his hand reaching for her face.

\--

Breakfast was had in silence, you twisting the napkin in your hand while keeping your gaze on your plate, only eating when Ming or Colin prompted you to. They were both worried, but like hell were they going to express it while the other was there. Eventually, you excused yourself to take a shower and wash your clothes. The Priest and the Warrior stared each other down from opposite ends of the table.

Ming broke the silence first. “Did you really have to shove me off the bed like that?”

“Yes.” Colin grunted, shoving some more scrambled egg into his mouth. He kept flicking the long lock of bright orange hair out of his scowling eyes. 

Ming glared right back. “She was waking up and we both know what would have happened if she saw us trying to strangle each other.”

“You tried to stab me!”

“And you are an abomination that shouldn’t exist.” Ming replied in a cheery tone.

“I’m not the only one at this table that’s an abomination.” Colin’s monotone grew icy, his gaze burning a flame orange.

Ming respond in kind, the slightest ghost of a smile on his face. “That, my ‘friend’, is a matter of semantics.” He wiped at the corner of his mouth with a napkin, trying to get some grease off his face. “You say I’m evil, I say the same about you. It’s in the perspective.”

“That’s bull shit. I-”

“Don’t forget that your ‘people’ want Soul dead.”

Colin’s eyes widened his grip on the butter knife tightening to the point his knuckles went white.

“Didn’t think I knew about that, did you?” Ming’s smirk grew wider. “I’m  _ not _ going to let you or any of  _ them _ anywhere near Soul. I promised to keep her safe.”

“We both promised that, Arthur.” Colin took a deep breath, the fight fading from his eyes. “And you don’t know a damn thing about us.”

Ming’s own glare deepened, smile fading into a hard line at the sound of his first name. He spoke lowly with a slight growl to his voice, “I know enough. I know that you’ve killed before. That you drain magic from the people around you. I know that your people are the same, leeches and parasites that want all the magic for themselves. That you pride yourselves on your history, though it’s marked by oppression and wrath.” He paused to take a drink from his coffee, placing the cup down a little too firmly. “I know that you think we are the same. We’re not. I’m nothing like you, Colin. You want to enslave her, I want to free her. I want to free everyone, an equal world. A world without monsters like you.” Ming stood and walked away from the table, leaving his dishes there, and disappeared into the bedroom.

Colin’s hands shook, heart thudding against the inside of his ribs. He swore softly, gripping his wrist and taking long, deep breaths to try and calm himself. Half of him wanted nothing more than to rip that smug Warrior to pieces while the other half realized that would just be proving Ming’s point. Begrudgingly, Colin finished his food and stood, pressing the flat of his knuckles into the table and staring at his reflection in the polished wood. “I am not my father. I am not my father. I am not my father. I am in control.” He mumbled under his breath until the needling feeling in his soul numbed away. 

The Priest shuddered, picking up the remaining dishes and setting to wash them in the sink. How much longer could he pretend. He’d almost said it this morning to you, he’d been so close, but could he put you in danger like that? Could he really tell you what it was that ‘kept him up at night,’ why he never seemed to sleep? What would you think of him? Could he still be by your side? Could you be happy with someone like him?

Was- Was it really better just to let Ming have you?

What the hell was he even thinking?! Colin shook his head, nearly breaking the glass he was holding with his sudden tension. No, he was going to fight for you tooth and nail. Ming wasn’t going to make you someone like him; not you. Not the only friend- Not the only love he’d ever had. Not you.

* * *

 

Caroline let out a whimper as feeling slowly returned to her limbs. Good gods, she felt so stiff. Her heavy eyelids twitched as she forced them open, taking in the musty, damp surroundings. The couch under her was groady feeling, worn and ancient if the fading 50’s polyester had anything to say. Her head throbbed painfully, that feeling in the center of her chest getting tighter. A second sound, like a melody or something similar rung through her ears incessantly and she just wished it would stop! It was like needles being driven into her skull.

The sound of an old lock being coerced open jarred the young woman into full alert. She was in a solid cement room, no window, no visible escapes, and no places to hide. Only the couch and herself. Caroline leapt up, shoving the furnishing forward to duck behind it. With her racing heart she noticed sparks of soft blue light dancing down her fingers. “H-hu! W-what is-”

The door swung open, spilling a bright light into the room, framing the figure that had taken her. She started shaking, mouth dry and teeth clenched. He looked at her from under his cowl hood, a slight downward bend to his lips. “Now, there’s no need for that, Caroline. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“O-oh yeah, then why did you kidnap me!?”

The man sighed, flipping his hood off, and dammit if he wasn’t good looking... for a crazy supernatural... guy. Hang on, what in the flying fuck was even going on?!

“Can you come out from behind the couch now? I just want to talk with you about some things Soul isn’t allowed to tell you. She would be in big trouble if you found out. She’s been keeping a lot of secrets for a long time and you have a right to know.”

The girl narrowed her eyes, staying behind the rank-smelling seat. “Not a chance in hell. And why should I believe a word you say?”

“Would I have know you call your roommate ‘Soul’ if I didn’t know something about all this?”

“Yeah, that could be an explanation, or you could be an alien or some other  _ thing _ . Monsters exist, so why not other supernatural stuff.”

“Ugh, Shallor Façol. I do not get paid enough for this.” The aura burst to life around his hand and he lifted the couch up into the air -not having moved from the doorway- and smashed it against the opposite wall. “You will follow me. We will have a nice chat. And you are going to behave, understood?”

Caroline leapt up in shock, pressing herself into the corner, hands sparking wildly. “Y-yes, I understand.”

“Good,” the man ran a hand through his long dark hair with a growling voice, “this way.”

Meekly, she followed, staring at her glowing hands in a mix of awe and horror. Did they infect her with something? Was that the reason she felt so wound up, her body telling her something was horribly wrong?

Caroline didn’t know what she was expecting, but a club was not it. They had walked up a flight of stairs, the loud subwoofers announcing their location long before they actually arrived. When she did come out into the club proper, she was struck by the sickly green light coming up from the floor. It cast everything in this eerie darkness. All the upholstery was some variation of black or dark grey and a lot of the accents were glass of chrome; tropical rainforest scenes spread over the walls in these weird cathedral-window style stained glass. She glanced down at the undulating swarm of human bodies rocking to the pounding music- though it only made her headache worse. No matter how hard she looked, Care couldn’t see the DJ or any speakers either, the music seemed like it came from all around her. The vibrations one would expect from dubstep this loud just weren’t there. The lack of them actually made her stomach turn and head pound worse, the growing knot in her chest winding tighter.

Her escort lead her over to a booth on the upper floor where another man dressed in a dark hoodie and ripped black jeans lounged with a group of women attending to him. He had his hood up... and also seemed not to be wearing a shirt. Somewhere on all of their bodies was a tattoo, a serpent swallowing a star. The symbol looked familiar, where had she seen it?

“Deacon, I brought her. Shall we have our talk now?”

The man looked up from his drink, shadowed eyes also burning red. It struck Caroline just how much like a cheesy modern vampire movie this was. All she needed was a dramatic twist or something and, boom, her life was an anime. 

“Excuse us, sisters. Business. Go take care of the others for now. I’ll teach you more later.”

There were a chorus of soft murmurs, several of the departing women stopping to close their eyes and clasp their hands as if reverently praying. It sent a chill up Caroline’s spine. 

Her escort pushed her forward onto the soft green booth next to this Deacon guy. Almost immediately, she was overcome with a feeling of terror. Some part of Caroline knew her life was in danger, and was screaming at the shivering woman to run. She couldn’t though, not with Mr. tall-dark-and-gruesome blocking her retreat. Deacon grabbed her chin, forcing the ginger female to lock eyes with him. The blood-hued glow made her shivering worse, almost as much as her own eyes glowing reflection made her mind shriek in pain. She blinked away the tears clouding up her vision, refusing to let these men see her cry... Or at least this Deacon guy. The other one had already seen it, all things considered. 

“You know they say eyes are the window to the soul.” Caroline flinched at Deacon's calm and smooth voice. She couldn’t pinpoint an age in his intonations nor his face. He exuded this sensation of age and power and terror though he looked no older than twenty-three. She did her best to swallow down her fear, and still her shaking body with her will alone. Something about his eyes made her feel determined. “... If you stare into the void, it stares back. That is something else you should know, Caroline.”

“Who are you people? How do you know my name, and where are we?” Her voice no longer shook, that knot in her chest squeezing to the point of tearing, the song so loud in her mind that it drowned out the pulsating music, yet everything was still and quiet so long as she looked into this man’s eyes.

“I’m a Deacon of the Black Order, and that is all you need to know.”

The sparks around her hand condensed into a thick glow and she slapped his arm away from her, glaring into his eyes. Where was this courage coming from? What was making her so bold? It was your smiling face; when she looked for an answer, it was your smiling face that came to her mind, your tuneless wandering song matching in melody with hers. Whatever these men said or did, it didn’t matter because she wasn’t really alone. She had her friends, she had her boyfriend, Jackson, she had you. Everything was going to be alright if she could be strong now. 

She  _ is _ strong now.

“Like hell I don’t need to know! I asked you a question, and we are here to talk, so you better give me a straight answer.” Her shaking had stopped, voice firm, and her glowing fists lit up the area around her. Only when the heavy, scalding hand of the escort behind her practically crushed her shoulder did Care realize, even with her soul full of love, and the strength of her character fully shining through, she was a child by comparison to whatever power these men had. 

She isn’t strong at all, she is just fooling herself.

“You’ll find, dear Caroline, that I do not have to answer anything you ask me. Should I deem you unworthy, our friend here will be more than happy to Syphon your soul to dust. I’m sure you don’t want that, I hear it’s quite painful.”

She dry-swallowed. “No, I don’t want to die.”

He smiled. The Deacon’s underlit face contorted around that expression in a way that made the chills running down her spine and spread to her limbs. Her escort’s hand pushed her back against the seat with a bit too much force. “There’s a good girl. Now, what questions  _ should _ you be asking instead?”

Caroline’s eyes darted to the man in black robes before skimming back over the Deacon. Black hoodie, black shirt, black ripped skinny jeans, black high-tops. He just sank into the dark corners of wherever he sat, edges blurring out. All of it contrasted his sun-starved skin. Nope, this guy was definitely a vampire. Honestly, that would be less weird than anything else she could think of, and Black Order certainly sounded vampire-y.

Oh gods, was she a vampire now!? Was she going to start craving your blood?! Wait, what did he say about you, secrets you weren’t telling her? 

“What isn’t Soul telling me?”

“Yes, exactly.”

Oh, shit, she’d said that out loud. Why was she being ditzy at a time like this?! It’s not endearing now!

“White Castle College is a mage institution. It's been schooling human mages for thousands of years now. Your roommate, Soul, is one of them. She is above regular humans, like you, and even moreso above those monsters that just came crawling out of the dark. You’re mud on her bootheel to be totally honest. You’re a burden.”

Caroline winced, snarling at the Deacon. “Who the  _ fuck _ do you think you are, telling me how my  _ friend _ , my  _ roommate _ feels about me?! I’ve lived with Soul for years now, I  _ know her _ , I’m her closest friend!”

“But she hasn’t told you a thing. Clearly doesn’t trust you.” He held up his glowing red hand, stopping her from speaking in a wrathful retort. “I know how hard this must be to hear, but Soul has been lying to your face from the moment you met. She’s not a fantasy nerd because she  _ like _ the genre. It's our culture still ingrained in the mind of humans. It’s all she has left of our shining empires and the gleaming cities we once had.”

“Our culture?” Caroline parroted. So not a vampire? A mage? How stupid is that. There’s no way that you had... “Her voice is magical.... It always... And monster are magic and... She and Colin are in extra curriculars together... She was the first person to meet the monsters... and she wasn’t afraid or worried or....” Caroline’s shoulders slowly fell as the memories of you, your smiles, your songs, the slight gleam to your eyes- a green that never seemed to match the light around you- that occasional song you had to keep finding but felt so  _ you _ .

“Oh my... gods. Soul is...”

“Soul is a mage, and you are a mundie. You could never be friends. You’re beneath her.”

There were no stopping the tears. She didn’t want to believe this man’s venomous words. She didn’t want to hear it, but now that they were in her mind, she couldn’t stop them from going through every memory of you with a fine-toothed comb. The image she built of you, the deep sisterly bond she’d formed was being violently attacked by this serpent of envy and doubt. “Stop it.... Stop, Soul wouldn’t lie to me. Shut up.” Her hands roared to life with a sapphire blue fire, eyes glowing bright enough to cast their light over the surrounding surfaces. Still the thoughts taunted and spat at her. She clutched her head, shooting to her feet with a pained and rage-filled scream. “I said shut up!”

Without thinking, she lashed out all this tension and pain on the booth table, slamming both her hands down on the polished black surface. There was a deafening clap like thunder, lightning arcing through the air with her swing. The table was utterly destroyed and that tight feeling in her chest ripped open, spilling electricity through her body. It was power. It was  _ too much power _ , she couldn’t handle i-

Something struck the center of her chest, the core of her very being. She saw it in a moment of calm between heartbeats. A crystal blue heart floating in front of her chest. It was all of her, everything she loved and hated. It wasn’t part of her body, yet at the same time it was everything she was. It was agony. It was euphoria. It was life and death, and every moment she’d ever had. Every one she ever will have. A little sliver of purple, a bit of someone else swirled lovingly down the center. She knew him, he was a part of her, they were already bound this tightly. Jackson’s soul had made a mark on hers, and she doubtlessly left one on him.  _ Oh, so this is what Soul meant about us. He is the one. Already part of my everything _ .

The peace was gone and Caroline’s soul slipped back into her chest. The impact of a fist directly on her being ricochet through her a second latter, body lagging behind a moment when the dam broke open. She dropped to the ground, shaking and coughing at this new, impossible pain. Everything hurt, inside and out. It was a blow that left her unable to do much but gasp for air. 

The Deacon’s voice hissed in her ear. “Now, why did you go and do that, Caroline? I was just about to tell you there’s still hope, but you went and proved my point for me, didn’t you. You have potential, dear girl. Magic and power, but no control. I’ll teach you how to be her equal, then you can confront your roommate about her lies. You can seek out the truth from the source if you need to be told so badly.”

“You’re-” her shoulders rocked with breathless coughs- “full of shit.”

“You say that now, Care. But whether you like it or not, you’ll learn from us what it takes to be a mage. You’ll learn just like all your classmates will. Just like ‘Jackie’ will.”

Her blood ran cold and Caroline forced herself up onto her hands, turning to face him. “You stay away from him,” She croaked out.

“A bit late on that one, dear. What, did you think we were only interested in you? With monsters on the surface we need to do everything we can to be prepared for the threat they pose, including recruitment from the ranks of you mundies. Couples tend to gravitate to each other by their souls and if you have this much hidden power, he most certainly has an equal well of strength.”

“What did you do to me?” She broke her gaze away, looking at the thick blue smoke curling up from her palm.

“I didn’t do anything, you simply woke up from a dream. Welcome to reality, sister. You are going to go far, I know it.”

Caroline’s escort stood. “Should I take her to the farm?”

“Yes, let’s give her a chance to rest, brother. What of the other students, are they being acclimated?”

“Some are taking it better than others.” The man in black robes stood. “The President wants to make a speech tonight, the harvest is to attend.”

Deacon also straightened up, biting his lower lip thoughtfully. “I’ll see to the others, then. Make sure this crop is fruitful. Gather the rest of the flock.... and prepare the wolf. I want these young ones to see what the President is talking about. Oh, and find Father Morris if you can. I’ll need to talk with him about adding more supplicants to his congregation.”

Caroline coughed, trying to bravado her way through the emotion-tornado in her chest. “What are you guys? A fucking cult?”

Deacon glared at her, sighing through his nose. “Take her to the farm, Karn. I need to get a new table ... and a new drink.”

“It’s the morning.” The young woman struggled to her feet, her escort seizing her forearm and yanking her up fully.

Karn grunted at her, “Are you sure about that?” He turned his gaze back to Deacon, nodded to him. “And my good-for-nothing brother? Where is he for all this?”

“Handling our more volatile supplicant and that oaf, Browne.”

The larger man scoffed, half dragging, half guiding Caroline back through the way she had come, only taking a left-hand fork in the path to a stairwell. From there, the shivering, exhausted college student was thrown onto her own feet ahead of Karn, being prodded hard to go faster or to change direction. It was like walking to a solitary confinement unit at a penitentiary for the criminally insane. Wide, stout, whitewashed halls with rows of solid steel doors, each covered in something like dark red paint- swirling symbols that shone and burned into her mind as she walked past them.

The song in her mind had grown fainter, or maybe it was just harder to notice, liked she’d grown used to it. The part of her unconscious mind that suppressed the sound of her heartbeat now also extending to block this new sound out.

Karn pushed her out into an opening where more of those runes were carved into the stone. Just behind the rows and rows of symbols was a cage. And in that cage, a monster, chained to the floor by their ankles and throat. She had never seen a monster like this, it was completely savage, thrashing against its bindings, trying to reach her. Karn pushed Caroline up to the innermost line of runes, centimeters away from the point of the monster’s claws as they slashed impotently in front of her face. Caroline went completely stiff, not even breathing, not even being able to breath.

“They aren’t so friendly now, are they girl?” Karn’s cold voice sunk into her mind, numbing what little fear it could. Her anger had all but spluttered out entirely, there wasn’t any fight left.

“What did you do to them?” It was soft, devoid of hope.

The male snorted, dragging her back from the cage and shoving her on to another hall lined with doors. “We didn’t do anything to it. That is what monsters really are under all the happy fluff, cold blooded killers that drain magic from humans’ souls like parasites, glutting themselves on our power, on our lives.”

Caroline’s gaze dropped to the floor and she nearly stopped walking were it not for a sharp shove nearly knocking her over. She kept on until Karn told her to stop. They were in front of one door, unmarked and open. The interior was a padded cell in mostly off-white. A bed, a toilet in the corner, and nothing else. Care turned  to look up at Karn’s hard face, really getting a good look at him. His dark, black-brown hair was slicked back, his brow heavy with deep set eyes, and a nose only just crooked by an old break. His scars were light enough to suggest they were old. On the whole, he looked to be in his late thirties, and very much like a character from one of those Skyrim games. The kind you were supposed to kill after a stupidly long and convoluted quest chain. Basically endboss material... or at least bonus boss.

He glared at her until Caroline took a step back into the cell. The door slammed shut, and though it wasn’t locked, the newly trapped woman felt a buzz of...  _ something _ in the air just before the door. She reached out only to yank her arm back with a stream of curses. Something zapped her. So, the door was something to be avoided. 

Caroline looked around at the empty room, then down at her palms, focusing on getting them to glow again. They sparked and flickered, but she was just too exhausted. With a heavy sigh, she laid down and reached for her phone.... Oh right, she’d dropped it. Caroline fell into an uneasy sleep, tossing and turning fitfully, wishing this was all a bad dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warcraftedtardis.tumblr.com | Poke Me  
> patreon.com/angieofthewarcraftedtardis | Feed Me  
> wiessners-anthology-of-magic.tumblr.com| Poke Him


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